2D Materials

By Sam Sholtis

Mauricio Terrones, Evan Pugh University Professor and Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics, and professor of chemistry and of material science and engineering, has been named the new George A. and Margaret M. Downsbrough Head of the Department of Physics at Penn State, effective July 1. Terrones succeeds Nitin Samarth, who has served as head of the department since 2011.

By Jamie Oberdick

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A new form of a heterostructure of layered two-dimensional (2D) materials may enable quantum computing to overcome key barriers to its widespread application, according to an international team of researchers.  

By Matthew Carroll

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Advances in computing power over the decades have come thanks in part to our ability to make smaller and smaller transistors, a building block of electronic devices, but we are nearing the limit of the silicon materials typically used. A new technique for creating 2D oxide materials may pave the way for future high-speed electronics, according to an international team of scientists.

By Mariah R. Lucas

When used as wearable medical devices, stretchy, flexible gas sensors can identify health conditions or issues by detecting oxygen or carbon dioxide levels in the breath or sweat. They also are useful for monitoring air quality in indoor or outdoor environments by detecting gas, biomolecules and chemicals. But manufacturing the devices, which are created using nanomaterials, can be a challenge. 

By Jamie Oberdick

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sometimes friction is good, such the friction between a road and a car’s tires to prevent the vehicle from skidding. But sometimes friction is bad – if you did not put oil in that very same car, there would be so much friction in the bearings of the engine the car could not operate. 

By Jamie Oberdick

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — You are reading this because of materials.  

By Jamie Oberdick

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new type of active pixel sensor that uses a novel two-dimensional material may both enable ultra-sharp cellphone photos and create a new class of extremely energy-efficient Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, according to a team of Penn State researchers.  

A team of researchers from Penn State, Northeastern University, Rice University and Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil have developed a technique to quickly and sensitively characterize defects in 2D materials.

An interdisciplinary team led by Penn State has received a five-year $3.7 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation’s new program on convergence research.