Category: Vohra

Spotlight on Growing Diamonds at UAB






Ribbon cutting for the new $75 million dollar East Science Hall (ESH) and South Science Hall (SSH) took place on Thursday, August 17, 2023.  Visitors from on and off campus participated in the festivities which included guided tours of the building’s research labs, teaching labs, new offices and much more.  ESH and SSH house the Departments of Physics, Biology and Chemistry.  Dr. Yogesh K. Vohra, Professor of Physics and University Scholar, had the pleasure of leading the tour of the diamond fabrication lab along with Q&A about the process and uses.





Below is an excerpt of an extensive article by Al.com on Dr. Vohra’s process for growing diamonds:





The Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition reactor (CVD), which uses microwave power to break down methane and hydrogen gases to grow diamonds in the lab, has now been moved to a basement room of the new building. The South Science Hall and East Science Hall, part of the new Science and Engineering Complex, opened Thursday.





Large tanks are ready to combine methane and hydrogen into a mixture to produce high-pressure, high-temperature, nitrogen-doped synthetic diamonds.  Yogesh Vohra, professor of physics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, held up several samples of yellow diamond crystals made in UAB’s lab to show a tour group.





You can read the full article here.

	


	




	
	

	
	

		
Drs. Yogesh Vohra, Cheng-Chien Chen, and Sergey Mirov Awarded DOE Grants
	


		
	
	

		

Congratulations are in order for Drs. Vohra and Mirov for their recent DOE Awards.  The full scope of the awards and other CAS award recipients can be found here including .





Sergey Mirov, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Physics, awarded $335,000: Mirov will develop a Middle and Long Wave Infrared Laser System. This is a continuation of funding with increased amounts.





Yogesh Vohra, Ph.D., associate dean and professor in the Department of Physics, and Cheng-Chien Chen, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Physics, awarded $470,250: Vohra and Chen will study magnetic structures in heavy lanthanides under extreme conditions.

	


	




	
	

		
Video Lecture by Yogesh K Vohra PhD
	


		
	
	

		
Dr. Yogesh K. Vohra is a Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials (FIAAM) in recognition for his contribution to “Advancement of Materials to Global Excellence.”


Click image below to view video lecture titled Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition of Diamond and Novel Superhard Materials.


Dr. Yogesh K Vohra presents a video lecture on Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition of Diamond and Novel Superhard Materials


 

	


	




	
	

		
A Diamond as the Steppingstone to New Materials
	


		
	
	

		
Dr. Yogesh VohraThe following article appears in the UAB News article titled “A diamond as the steppingstone to new materials, using plasma physics technology”  written by Jeff Hansen.  An adaption of this article appears in Materials Today as “Plasma Process Offers Fine Control Over Diamond Properties.”


University of Alabama at Birmingham physicists have taken the first step in a five-year effort to create novel compounds that surpass diamonds in heat resistance and nearly rival them in hardness.


They are supported by a five-year, $20 million National Science Foundation award to create new materials and improve technologies using the fourth state of matter — plasma. (Read more)