Sooho Choo awarded the 2026 Russell & Sigurd Varian Award from AVS

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/10/2026) — Congratulations to Sooho Choo, a fifth year materials science graduate student in Bharat Jalan’s group on being awarded the 2026 Russell & Sigurd Varian Award from AVS. Only one graduate student is selected internationally for this prestigious award each year, recognizing exceptional research achievement and academic excellence in fields represented by AVS.

The Russell & Sigurd Varian Award recognizes and encourages excellence in continuing graduate studies in the sciences and technologies of interest to AVS. Established in 1982 to commemorate the pioneering work of Russell and Sigurd Varian in vacuum science and technology. The recognition includes a cash award, a certificate, and reimbursed travel support to attend the AVS 72nd International Symposium and Exhibition.

Choo’s research focuses on demonstrating freestanding ultra-wide-bandgap (UWBG) CaSnO3 membranes. Specifically, he used a water-soluble BaO sacrificial layer to exfoliate epitaxial CaSnO3 thin films grown by hybrid MBE, and characterized their dielectric and optical properties. This work establishes a promising route for integrating UWBG materials with platforms that are otherwise incompatible with their direct growth, opening new opportunities for advanced electronic and photonic devices.

Congratulations Sooho!