Ella Kartika Pek

Dr. Ella K. Pek is currently Postdoctoral Research Associate at Idaho National Laboratory, with a Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has extensive expertise in laser-based thermal transport studies, particularly using time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR). Leveraging this expertise, she has the ability of characterizing and mapping the thermal properties of various materials:

-           Thin films, superlattices (TDTR has the capability to be more sensitive to the thin film sample instead of the usual characterization that is more sensitive to the bulk properties)

-           Actinide materials and irradiated materials, such as irradiated UO₂, fission product’s effect on thermal conductivity of nuclear fuel (ThO₂)

-           low-dimensional quantum magnets, where TDTR can characterize another contribution to thermal conductivity (magnons, in addition to phonons)

Along with her expertise in laser-based thermal properties characterization, she leverages her expertise in Python to characterize interdiffusion coefficients. One of the applications of this skill was shown in her projects of analyzing interdiffusion coefficients of different coatings on Zircaloy-based accident tolerant fuel cladding. For this analysis, she utilized Python-based code (pydiffusion) to process composition data obtained through Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA).

Throughout her research projects, she developed expertise in programming with MATLAB and Python, and in various structural and chemical analytical tools, which helped her in characterizing her samples. These tools include Secondary Electron Microscope (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford Backscattering (RBS), Raman spectroscopy, and several physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques.

Her other research interests, where she can leverage her skills, include:

-           Nuclear Materials and Fuel Cladding

o    characterizing irradiation defects and studying the effects of radiation on the thermal properties of nuclear fuels and fuel claddings

o    analyzing diffusion coefficients and thermal behavior of materials used in nuclear reactors

-           Advanced Measurement Techniques and Instrumentation

o    Developing and optimizing advanced measurement systems for high-resolution thermal studies

o    Enhancing thermal mapping and characterization techniques for applications in various materials

-           High-Throughput Material Characterization

o    Utilizing knowledge of thermal properties characterization to be applied to a high-throughput, in-situ online monitoring tool.

-           Thin Films and Nanostructures

o    Characterizing thermal, optical, and electrical properties of thin films and nanostructures

o    Studying the impact of thickness, interfaces, and composition of material properties