Associated Faculty
Christianne Beekman
Naresh Dalal
Biwu Ma
Michael Shatruk
Theo Siegrist
Research Example
We are developing materials and structures for various chemical, environmental, temperature, biological, and mechanical sensors. The research mostly focuses on designing, fabricating, and studying theoretically one-dimensional semiconducting nan-structures used as solid-state sensors. We mostly focus on oxide-semiconductor materials such as SnO2, ZnO, etc. whose electrical conductivity depends sensitively on the properties of the surrounding atmosphere. Both the structure and physical properties make these wide band-gap materials attractive in high sensitivity, high selectivity, and high stability sensor applications.
The theoretical work focuses on understanding the physics and operation of these devices, and on optimizing their nano-structure to increase the sensitivity,selectivity, and stability of the sensors.