Dissertation

Next-Generation Isotope Production via Deuteron Breakup

Biography

Jonathan was a Nuclear Engineering Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley. His research interests are in isotope production, nuclear reaction modeling, and precision spectroscopy. He has also worked to develop the hardware and control software for the FLUFFY experimental facility, and is the current graduate student leader at the High-Flux Neutron Generator.

Jonathan has made contributions towards many of the program's isotope production experiments, and has developed the Curie Python library for the analysis of stacked-target cross section measurements using HPGe activation analysis. Some of the features of this library include full Bateman-equation solving, forward-modeling gamma spectroscopy, and a stacked-target stopping power solver using the Anderson-Ziegler formalism.

The focus of Jonathan's thesis is on the production of ²²⁵Ac using secondary neutrons from deuteron breakup. This required the development of a hybrid-Serber model for the breakup reaction, as well as new time-of-flight and activation measurements of the breakup spectrum as a function of deuteron energy.

Fun Facts

Jon's other (non-research) interests include astronomy, microscopy, photography, hiking, exploring, etc. He did collegiate downhill ski racing for 2 years during his undergrad.