Davood Shahrjerdi
New York University, NY·Materials Science
Stacking atom-thin sheets of different two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene, creates new artificial materials called van der Waals heterostructures. Their layers are held together by weak forces.
- Fields
Materials Science
Engineering
Physics
- Topics
van der Waals heterostructures
2D materials
two-dimensional materials
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Determine how polymer residues such as polyvinyl alcohol and paraffin interact with 2D materials like graphene and molybdenum disulfide, viewing the problem in terms of interface energy.
- Establish how polymer residues trapped between stacked 2D layers can be mobilized at the interface, using graphene and molybdenum disulfide heterostructures as test systems.
- Engineer an elastomeric (rubber-like) stamp that mechanically pushes mobilized polymer residues out of van der Waals heterostructures.
- Produce large, macroscopic van der Waals heterostructures with clean interfaces by applying the cleaning mechanisms identified in the project.
More about the research
Many of their most interesting physical properties appear only when the layers touch through extremely clean interfaces. That makes them promising for new electronics and quantum technologies. Large 2D sheets can now be grown, but stacking them into large, clean heterostructures remains a major hurdle. Polymer residues left behind during assembly get trapped between the layers, and no reliable way exists to remove them.
Why it matters
Electronics made from stacked 2D materials work as intended only when the interfaces between layers are clean. A practical way to make large, clean heterostructures could remove a key manufacturing barrier for new electronic and quantum devices. That would move these materials closer to real-world device fabrication.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Seongshik Oh
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Materials Science
Grow wafer-scale van der Waals heterostructures pairing the room-temperature 2D ferromagnet Fe3GaTe2 with topological materials Bi2Te3 or WTe2, using molecular beam epitaxy to achieve atomically sharp interfaces.
Tania Roy
Duke University, NC·Engineering·Early-career
Develop in-pixel computing circuits using optoelectronic synaptic devices made from 2D materials, sensing several wavelengths, that maximize each pixel's fill factor and form the first layer of a convolutional neural network.
You Zhou
University of Maryland, MD·Physics·Early-career
Fabricate coupled bilayers of transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors and test how their atomic structure and stacking affect the stability of Wigner crystals, ordered patterns of electrons.
The school
New York University: 72 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 540 research doctorates a year.
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