The Grainger College of Engineering
Materials Science & Engineering

Angus Rockett

Angus Rockett
Angus Rockett
Professor Emeritus

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Professional Highlights

  • Angus Rockett received a B.S. in Physics from Brown University in 1980 and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1986. Dr. Rockett is a Professor of Materials Science at the University of Illinois. His research interests include sputter deposition and characterization of CuInSe 2 for photovoltaics; growth of thin films; microchemical and microstructural analysis of thin films including by TEM, XPS, SIMS, and other methods; modeling of materials, especially semiconductors, using Monte Carlo, density functional theory, and continuum methods; and microelectromechanical systems. Dr. Rockett has more than 115 publications on these topics as well as on dopant segregation during crystal growth, ion source design, and transition metal oxide and nitride deposition and characterization. He has presented more than 40 invited talks. Dr. Rockett is a Fellow of the American Vacuum Society. He was an Assistant Dean of Academic Programs in the College of Engineering in 1993-94 and in 2000 was a member of the technical staff at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences. He currently serves on advisory panels for the University Grants Committee of the Government of Hong Kong. Dr. Rockett has participated in the planning of numerous international conferences for the AVS, IUVSTA, TMS and MRS, and serves on several committees of the AVS including the International Interactions Committee. He is a short course instructor for the AVS and has given tutorial lectures for the IEEE, at the Argonne National Laboratory, MRS and at national meetings of the Chinese, Swedish and Mexican Vacuum Societies. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal Materials Chemistry and Physics, the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, and has served as a guest editor of several conference proceedings including the Thin Films portion of IVC-12/ICSS-8 and E-MRS 2002, and ICTF-13.

Research Statement

IV, III-V, and chalcogenide semiconductors, materials for solar cells, theory of crystal

growth, defects in semiconductors, contact metallurgies, solid phase reaction kinetics,

surface science, materials for advanced circuit protection devices.

Selected Articles in Journals

  • Tuteja, Mohit; Koirala, Prakash; Maclaren, Scott; Collins, Robert; Rockett, Angus; "Direct observation of electrical properties of grain boundaries in sputter-deposited CdTe using scan-probe microwave reflectivity based capacitance measurements", Applied Physics Letters, v 107, n 14, October 5, 2015
  • Pena Martin, Pamela; Lyding, Joseph; Rockett, Angus, "Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of epitaxial silver indium diselenide", Surface Science, v 636, p 8-12, June 2015
  • He, X.Q.; Brown, G.; Demirkan, K.; Mackie, N.; Lordi, V.; Rockett, A., "Microstructural and Chemical Investigation of PVD-CdS/PVD-CuIn1-xGaxSe2 Heterojunctions: A Transmission Electron Microscopy Study", IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, v 4, n 6, p 1625-9, Nov. 2014.
  • Rockett, A.; van Duren, J.K.J.; Pudov, A.; Shafarman, W.N.; "First quadrant phototransistor behavior in CuInSe2 photovoltaics", Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells v. 118 pp 141-148 (2013), DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2013.07.032
  • Aquino, Angel; Rockett, Angus, "Chemical reactions at CdS heterojunctions with CuInSe2", J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 31(2), Mar 2013.
  • Martin, P.P.; Rockett, A.A.; Lyding, J., "Growth mechanism and surface atomic structure of AgInSe2", J. Vac. Sci. Techn. v. A30(4), p 04D115 (5 pp.), July 2012.
  • Chitambar, Michelle; Wang, Zhijie; Liu, Yiming; Rockett, Angus; Maldonado, Stephen; "Dye-sensitized photocathodes: Efficient light-stimulated hole injection into p-GaP under depletion conditions", Journal of the American Chemical Society, v 134, n 25, p 10670-10681, June 27, 2012
  • Liu, Yiming; Sun, Yun; Rockett, Angus, "An improved algorithm for solving equations for intra-band tunneling current in heterojunction solar cells" Thin Solid Films, v 520, n 15, p 4947-4950, May 31, 2012
  • Rockett, Angus; Chung, Yip-Wah; Blaschek, Hans; Butterfield, Sandy; Chance, Ronald R.; Ferekides, Chris; Robinson, Michael; Snyder, Seth W.; Thackeray, Michael; "Transformative research issues and opportunities in alternative energy generation and storage" Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science, v 15, n 1, p 16-19 (2011).
  • Marie A. Mayer, Laura B. Ruppalt, Damon Hebert, Joseph Lyding and Angus A. Rockett, "Scanning tunneling microscopic analysis of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 epitaxial layer," J. Appl. Phys. 107, 034906 (2010).
  • Yang, L.-C., Chen, G.S. and Rockett, A., "Surface polarities of sputtered epitaxial CuInSe2 and Cu1In3Se5 thin films grown on GaAs (001) substrates," Appl. Phys. Lett. 86(20) 201907-1-3 (2005).
  • Rockett, A., "The effect of Na in polycrystalline and single crystal CuIn1-xGaxSe2," Thin Solid Films 480-1, 2-7 (2005).
  • Rockett A., Johnson D.D., Khare S.V. and Tuttle B.R., "Prediction of dopant ionization energies in silicon: The importance of strain," Physical Review B. 6823(23):3208 (2003).
  • A. Rockett, D. Liao, J.T. Heath, J.D. Cohen, Y.M. Strzhemechny, L.J. Brillson, K. Ramanathan and W.N. Shafarman, "Near-surface Defect Distributions in Cu(In,Ga)Se2," Thin Solid Films 431-2, 301-6 (2003).
  • O. Lundberg, J. Lu, A. Rockett, M. Edoff and L. Stolt, "Diffusion of Indium and Gallium in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin Film Solar Cells," Journal of the Physics and Chemistry of Solids 64(9,10), 1499-1504 (2003).
  • Dongxiang Liao and Angus Rockett, "Cu depletion at the CuInSe2 Surface," Appl. Phys. Lett. 82(17), 2829-2831 (2003).
  • D. Liao and A. Rockett, "Cd-doping at the CuInSe2/CdS heterojunction," Journal of Applied Physics 93(11), 9380-2 (2003).
  • A. Rockett, D. Liao, J.T. Heath, .D. Cohen, Y. M. Strzhemechny, L. J. Brillson, K. Ramanathan and W.N. Shafarman, "Near-surface defect distributions in Cu(In,Ga)Se2," Thin Solid Films, 431-2, 301-6 (2003).
  • J.T. Heath, J.D. Cohen, W.N. Shafarman, D.X. Liao and A.A. Rockett, "Effect of Ga content on defect states in CuIn1-xGaxSe2 photovoltaic devices," Applied Physics Letters, vol.80, no.24, pp.4540-2. Publisher: AIP, USA (2002).
  • S. Kodambaka, V. Petrova, S.V. Khare, D. Gall, A. Rockett, I. Petrov and J.E. Greene, "Size-dependent detachment-limited decay kinetics of two-dimensional TiN islands on TiN(111)," Physical Review Letters, vol.89, no.17, pp.176102/1-4 (2002).
  • Y.M. Strzhemechny, P.E. Smith, S.T. Bradley, D.X. Liao, A.A. Rockett, K. Ramanathan and L.J. Brillson, "Near-surface electronic defects and morphology of CuIn1-xGaxSe2," Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, vol.20, no.6, pp. 2441-8 (2002).
  • D. Liao and A. Rockett, "Epitaxial growth of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 on GaAs(110)," J Appl. Phys 91(4), 1978-83 (2002).
  • A. Rockett, R. N. Bhattacharya, C. Eberspacher, V. Kapur and S.-H. Wei, "Basic Research Opportunities in Cu-Chalcopyrite Photovoltaics," in Photovoltaics for the 21st Century. Proceedings of the International Symposium. (Electrochem. Soc. Proceedings Vol.99-11). Electrochem. Soc., pp.232-40. Pennington, NJ, USA. (1999).
  • A. Rockett, J.S. Britt, T. Gillespie, C. Marshall, M.M. Al Jassim, F. Hasoon, R. Matson and B. Basol, "Na in selenized Cu(In,Ga)Se2 on Na-containing and Na-free glasses: distribution, grain structure, and device performances," Thin Solid Films 372(1-2), 212-217 (2000).
  • Z. Wang, D. M. Diatezua, D-G. Park, Z. Chen, H. Morkoc and A. Rockett, "Plasma nitridation of thing Si layers for GaAx dielectrics," J. of Vac. Sci. & Tech. B, 17(5), 2034-9 (1999).
  • A. Rockett, K. Granath, S. Asher, M. M. Al Jassim, F. Hasoon, R. Matson, B. Basol, V. Kapur, J. S. Britt, T. Gillespie and C. Marshall, "Na Incorporation in Mo and CuInSe2 from Production Processes," Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 59(3), 255-64 (1999).
  • M. Bodegård, K. Granath, L. Stolt and A. Rockett, "The Behavior of Na Implanted Into Mo Thin Films During Annealing," Solar Energy Mater. And Solar Cells 58(2), 199-208 (1999).
  • David J. Schroeder, Jose Luis Hernandez, Gene D. Berry and Angus A. Rockett, "Hole Transport and Doping States in Epitaxial CuIn1-xGaxSe2," J. Appl. Phys. 83(3), 1519 (1998).
  • D. M. Diatezua, Z. Wang, D. Park, Z. Chen, A. Rockett and H. Morkoc, "Si3N4 on GaAs by Direct Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma-Assisted Nitridation of Si Layer in Si/GaAs Structure," J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B16(2), 507 (1998).

Teaching Honors

  • Stanley Pierce Award, UIUC College of Engineering (2002)
  • Burnett Teacher of the Year Award (1998)
  • Outstanding Undergraduate Adviser, every year (1997-1999; 2001-present)
  • Everett Teaching Award (1993)

Research Honors

  • Fellow, American Vacuum Society (1998)
  • Invited “Opponent” for Ph.D. Thesis defense, Uppsala University, December (1997)
  • Xerox Award for Faculty Research (1992)

Public Service Honors

  • Editorial Board, Materials Chemistry and Physics, 1999-2004 (1999-2004)