Speaker: Dr. Zachary Robinson, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, SUNY Brockport
Title: The Surface Science of Growing 2D Materials
Abstract: Graphene, which is an atomically thin layer of graphite, was first isolated in 2004 by a research group at the University of Manchester. The discovery initiated a massive research effort into 2-dimensional materials, which have the potential to enable significant improvements in fields like high speed electronics, flexible electronics, transparent conductors, biological sensors, and others. Key to enabling future technology is understanding the physical properties and growth processes of the 2-dimensional materials. Graphene, for instance, can be grown by a variety of different techniques. Sublimation of Si from SiC and chemical vapor deposition on Cu are two such growth techniques, both of which are promising due to their ability to be scaled up to a manufacturing environment. In this talk, I will introduce some of the techniques used by surface scientists as they apply to my research studying the physical properties of the 2-dimensional material graphene. As time allows, I will also discuss some more recent work on materials relevant for neuromorphic computing, including a new optical spectroscopy instrument that we developed for measuring optical properties in ultra-high vacuum.