Hanna Budz

Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Engineering Physics

Ph.D. - Engineering Physics, McMaster University
B.Eng.Mgmt - Engineering Physics and Management, McMaster University

Ph.D. Thesis: Growth and Characterization of Alkanethiol Self-Assembled Monolayers on GaAs for use in Optical Biosensing Applications

• Main areas of research focused on the growth and characterization of organic monolayers on a variety of III-V semiconductor surfaces, as well as on the development of a novel nanostructured hybrid organic-GaAs optical biosensor
• Experienced in the growth and characterization of III-V semiconductors and organic thin films
• Skilled in the processing and characterization of nanostructured semiconducting materials, specifically nanowires (operation of instruments and analysis of results)
• Designed and assembled an ultra-high vacuum system for the deposition of organic materials on semiconductor surfaces from vapor phase
• Modeled optical and electrical properties of a biosensor using COMSOL Multiphysics software
• Designed and constructed an optical contact angle goniometer
• Operated and maintained room- and low-temperature laser-based photoluminescence systems
• Experienced in several analytical techniques used for materials characterization: variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, contact angle analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy

• H. A. Budz, M. Ali, Y. Li, and R. R. LaPierre, “Photoluminescence model for a hybrid aptamer-GaAs optical biosensor”, Journal of Applied Physics, 107, 104702, 2010.
• H. A. Budz, M. C. Biesinger, and R. R. LaPierre, "Passivation of GaAs by octadecanethiol self-assembled monolayers deposited from liquid and vapor phases", Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B, 27, 637-648, 2009.
• H. A. Budz and R. R. LaPierre, "Properties of octadecanethiol self-assembled monolayers deposited on GaAs from liquid and vapor phases," Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A, 26, 1425-1431, 2008.

• H. A. Budz, M. Ali, Y. Li, R. R. LaPierre, “A Hybrid Organic-Semiconductor Optical Biosensor”, 14th Canadian Semiconductor Technology Conference, Hamilton, Canada, August 2009.
• H. A. Budz, M. Ali, Y. Li, R. R. LaPierre, “Towards the Realization of a Label-Free Hybrid Organic-Semiconductor Optical Biosensor”, 2009 Surface Canada Conference, Hamilton, Canada, June 2009.
• H. A. Budz and R. R. LaPierre, “Vapor Deposition of Alkanethiol Self-Assembled Monolayers on III-V Semiconductors”, NanoForum Canada, Waterloo, Canada, June 2007.

Campus Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00-8:30 am to 4:00-4:30 pm