{"id":4482,"date":"2025-10-30T14:26:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T18:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/?post_type=profiles&#038;p=4482"},"modified":"2025-12-09T11:53:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T16:53:37","slug":"thomas-mckenzie","status":"publish","type":"profiles","link":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/profiles\/thomas-mckenzie\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas McKenzie"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/McKenzieThomas-edited-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4483\" style=\"width:200px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/McKenzieThomas-edited-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/McKenzieThomas-edited-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/McKenzieThomas-edited-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/McKenzieThomas-edited-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/McKenzieThomas-edited-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/McKenzieThomas-edited-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/McKenzieThomas-edited-2048x2048.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>MIT Department:<\/strong> Physics<br><strong>Faculty Mentor<\/strong>: Prof. Riccardo Comin<br><strong>Research Supervisor:<\/strong> Sahaj Patel, Qian Song<br><strong>Undergraduate Institution:<\/strong> Miami University, Oxford<br><strong>Website<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Biography<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomas McKenzie is a rising junior at Miami University studying physics with a minor in math. He is passionate about furthering our understanding of the natural world to improve the lives of others. Under Dr. Mahmud Khan, he has explored the use of additive manufacturing techniques to develop materials for environmentally friendly refrigeration and power transmission. At MIT, he is researching altermagnetism under Professor Comin in theDepartment of Physics for novel energy-efficient electronics. In the future, he plans to continue studying superconductivity, condensed matter systems, and plasma physics to advance nuclear fusion and other cutting-edge renewable energy sources. After his bachelor\u2019s degree, he hopes to pursue a PhD and a career in academia working with sustainable energy sources. He is also a member of the Society of Physics students and Miami University\u2019s Honor Student AdvisoryBoard. Outside of academics, Thomas enjoys watching Formula 1 and playing the trumpet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Raman Characterization of MnTe and MnTe<sub>2<\/sub><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-content-justification-center is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-73832be3 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Thomas McKenzie<sup>1<\/sup>, Sahaj Patel<sup>2<\/sup>, and Riccardo Comin<sup>2<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4b2eccd6 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p><sup>1<\/sup>Department of Physics, Miami University<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><sup>2<\/sup>Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Altermagnets, a new class of magnetic material, have promise for advancing energy-efficient computing technology amidst high power demands caused by AI. They allow for the generation of spin polarized current without any stray fields to influence nearby bits like those produced by ferromagnets. NiAs-type MnTe is one of the most studied from this new class of materials. Understanding the structure and symmetries of MnTe is crucial in developing our understanding of altermagnetism and the creation of energy-efficient spintronic technology. Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool for probing these symmetries. While past studies have presented and analyzed Raman spectra, we aim to conclusively determine the highly debated origin of the 175 cm-1 peak. We have performed Raman analysis with polarization dependence on both MnTe and MnTe2. Our samples are grown via chemical vapor deposition and analyzed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to confirm their chemical composition and stoichiometry. After a thorough comparison of the spectra, we conclude that the E2g phonon that has been associated with MnTe is the result of MnTe2 impurity. Further, we provide a symmetry analysis of the peaks found in the MnTe Raman spectrum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4483,"template":"","profile_category":[23],"class_list":["post-4482","profiles","type-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","profile_category-2025-interns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/4482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profiles"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/4482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4825,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/4482\/revisions\/4825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"profile_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_category?post=4482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}