Katrina Lu

Undergraduate Researcher at JDSY lab, UCI (2025-06 – Present)

• Developed a polymer-free dry-transfer process for delicate nanometer-thick 2D materials using sublimating cyclododecane (CDD) stamps, eliminating the need for wet solvent baths and preventing hydrocarbon contamination at the material interface
• Engineered stamp opacity and phase-change limitations by optimizing CDD crystallization cooling rates and temperature-dependent parameters, achieving an 80% success rate for hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) transfer
• Fabricated polymer films (PC) and executed wet-chemical cleaning protocols with hazardous solvents (chloroform, acetone, IPA) under strict lab safety standards
• Designed and built a motorized three-axis microscope integrating an optical camera, Arduino-controlled actuators, and host computer interface for repeatable micron-scale positioning, improving precision and accuracy
• Programmed a Python-based automation script using OpenCV for image sharpness analysis, driving the linear actuators accordingly to implement real-time autofocus during multi-position scans

Researcher at National Taiwan Normal University (2020-11 – 2022-02)

• Constructed a custom built optical tweezer system in a cleanroom by aligning multi-axis beam paths and integrating an interferometric imaging system for high-resolution particle tracking
• Enabled multidimensional movement of microscopic beads by modulating laser wavefront phase profiles using Spatial Light Modulator (SLM)

Bachelor of Science in Physics, Specialization in Astrophysics – University of California, Irvine (2026-06)