Kevin D. Vallejo was born in El Paso, Texas. He attended The University of Texas at El Paso where he received a B.S. degree in physics, after which he attended Boise State University to receive a M.Engr. in materials science, a graduate certificate in college teaching, and a Ph.D. in materials science with focus on semiconductor physics. He previously worked for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a graduate fellow for the National Nuclear Security Administration. Kevin completed his Ph.D. on semiconductor quantum dots’ synthesis and properties, pushing the limits of light emission obtained with these structures. He brought this expertise in epitaxial growth of materials to INL where he is currently working on the synthesis of nuclear fuel materials, their surrogates, novel antiperovskite compounds, and new ternary nitride materials with applications to corrosion resistance and material integration. In his free time Kevin engages in philosophical discussions of the foundations of physics, and has recently published collection of poems.

I have dedicated the last 7 years to experimental thin film synthesis using molecular beam epitaxy of III-V semiconductors, and now using nitrides I am pushing the limits of what can be done with MBE.

I used this technique to determine the optimal growth parameters for InAs and GaSb in the (111) direction, and how to nucleate self-assembled quantum dots on these surfaces. Here at INL, I am working on how to synthesize thin films of transition metals, lanthanides, and actinides.

Additionally, I have spent the last 10 years investigating the foundations of physics through the work of the great philosophers of physics.