Current Areas of Research

Growth and surface chemical modification of electronic and nanostructured materials

This area emphasizes the chemical vapor deposition of nanoscale, 1-dimensional materials such as carbon nanotubes, and nanowires of Si, GaN. The goal is to use the unique properties of these materials for applications that take advantage of their unique properties, e.g. electrical quantization and band structure, mechanical robustness, optical manipulability. Their small size and resulting very large surface to volume ratio means that surface chemistry and physics profoundly affects their properties and can be used to manipulate them in desirable ways. Chemical and physical characterization of carbon nanotubes and other nanostructures is required to understand the nature of the surface changes and how they affect the properties of these structures.

Directed assembly of unidimensional nanostructures

The small size of these nanostructures dictates development of efficient, reliable methods for their assembly into usable architectures. The achievement of these methods is explored using electrical, chemical and lithographic means.

Sensors

Well-characterized nanostructures are assembled into various sensor architectures, e.g., nanomechanical resonators, ChemFETs, and eventually optical transducers. We explore their use for detecting chemical and biological agents.

Nanoscale light emitter spectroscopy

Photoluminescence and electroluminescence experiments with single-quantum-dot sensitivity are being used to characterize the optical properties of nanoscale light emitters and to establish the design rules for coupling emitters to substrates and electrodes with minimal loss in efficiency. Excited-state photoemission of nanoscale semiconductors and molecular films is used to complement purely optical characterization by directly probing excited states, including dark and defect states that may affect device performance.