Dr. Xiaoyu (Criss) Zhang
Chemical Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Email: zhang.xiaoyu3@northeastern.edu
Education
Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Northeastern University, MA. U.S. (2023)
M.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Boston University, MA. U.S. (2015)
Research interests
My research is focused on understanding and tailoring solid-state phase transformations in a variety of technologically relevant magneto-functional materials. These materials are essential to modern society by allowing wireless interconversions between different types of energy to functionalize a variety of advanced technologies in automotive, aerospace, energy, and biomedical fields. Research applies novel materials processing approaches to alter local atomic environments and structures at multiple length scales – Ångstrom-level to the microscale, to tailor magnetofunctionality. The main methodology combines thermal, magnetic, and/or mechanical inputs during material treatment, using the home-designed Multi-Driver furnace, for soft or hard ferromagnetic material systems such as FeSiB-based amorphous-nanocrystalline materials, MnAl-, and FeNi-based alloys.
Skills and Techniques
- Materials synthesis/processing: Arc melting, Melt spinning, Heat treatments
- Characterization: X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Magnetometry (VSM, SQUID), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Atomic/Magnetic Force Microscopy (AFM/MFM)
- Software: GSAS-II for Rietveld Refinement of XRD patterns, JADE for XRD analysis, VESTA for crystallographic modeling, ANSYS for electromagnetic simulation, OriginLab, Matlab
Professional membership
IEEE Magnetic Society, Materials Research Society