I study high temperature intermetallic formation reactions. That bright flash of light is a crash course in the materials science of interdiffusion, phase transformations, and kinetics – and it’s all over in less than a second! In fact, the short lifetime of the reaction means I work with collaborators all over JHU and the country to find experiments fast enough to elucidate the reaction steps.

Our research labs delve into the extremes of matter to make energy cleaner, devices faster, materials stronger, and people healthier.

Sara Barron

Sara Barron worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Timothy Weihs on temperature measurements during rapid self-propagating formation reactions in multilayered foils. She is still studying phase transformations, now as an ARRA postdoctoral fellow at NIST, where she investigates the optical properties of thermochromic coatings for “smart” building windows.