Emerging physical phenomena in low-dimensional systems and nanostructures.

Quantum and semi-classical electronic, spin, and thermal transport.

Physical properties of materials and interfaces for devices and energy applications.

Semiconductor physics and device engineering.

Discovery and design of materials via high-throughput computations.

First principles calculations and ab initio methods.

Modulation of the Interlayer Coupling in Heterostructures based on Two-Dimensional Materials

Investigation of the tunable interlayer coupling via external fields in two-dimensional materials and optimization using first principles calculations.

Related pulblications : Heath 2021 [link], Heath 2020 [link].

Collaborators : Marcio Costa (Fluminense Federal Univ.), Marco Buongiorno-Nardelli (Univ. of North Texas).

Support : National Science Foundation.

High-K Dielectrics and Surface Treatments for Improved Wide Band Gap Semiconductors Applications

The interfaces between wide band gap semiconductors and their chemical treatments have proven key to their utilization in a variety of applications. This experimental/theoretical project seeks to produce and characterize the interfaces between thin film dielectrics and wide band gap materials.

Related pulblications : Das 2021 [link], Wang 2021 [link], Jayawardena 2021 [link].

Collaborators : Sarit Dhar (AU), Leonard Feldman (Rutgers Univ.).

Support : Army Research Laboratory.

Two-dimensional Materials as platforms for diverse applications

The unique properties of two-dimensional materials which exhibit behaviors of crystals in-plane and of molecules out of plane offer novel opportunities to the development of applications.

Related pulblications : Baldez 2017 [link], Heath 2018 [link], Luan 2020, [link], Fathi-Hafshejani 2021 [link], Luan 2022 [link].

Collaborators : Paulo Piquni (Federal Univ. of Santa Maria, Brazil, Masoud Mahjouri-Samani (AU), Binquan Luan (IBM).

Support : Auburn Univ.

Piezo electronic transistor

The electromechanical coupling in systems combining piezoelectric and piezoresistive materials has been proposed as a way to circumvent the 60 meV sub-threshold slope in metal-oxide field effect transistors.

Related pulblications : Jian 2013 [link], Kuroda 2014 [link], Solomon 2015 [link], Keech 2014 [link], Newns 2017, Keech 2017 [link].

Collaborators : Dennis Newns (IBM), Glenn Martyna (IBM), Matt Copel (IBM)Susan Trollier-McKinstry (Penn. State Univ.), Gerhard Klimeck (Purdue Univ.).

Graphene as transparent conducting electrode.

The unique physical properties of graphene make it an outstanding candidate for transparent conducting electrode.

Related pulblications : Kasry 2010 [link], Kuroda 2011 [link], Nistor 2012 [link], Kim 2020 [link].

Collaborators : Jerry Tersoff (IBM), Glenn Martyna (IBM), Choi (Purdue Univ.), Choi (University of Seoul, South Korea).

Electro-thermal transport in carbon nanotubes

Study of the high-field electronic transport in carbon nanotubes through the self-consistent solution of the semi-classical Boltzmann transport equation.

Related pulblications : Kuroda 2005 [link], Kuroda 2008 [link], Kuroda 2009 [link], Salehi-Khojin 2010 [link].

Collaborators : Jean-Pierre Leburton (Univ. of Illinois).