Congratulations to Maria Hilse who received the 2024 Rustum and Della Roy Innovation in Materials Research Award for Research Faculty. Hilse’s research focus is on the synthesis and characterization of unique materials that are extremely thin, such as one- and two-dimensional nanostructures, films and heterostructures using MBE. This method works in conditions similar to the vacuum of outer space and allows precise control over these ultra-thin films' thickness.
By Jamie Oberdick
The microelectronics industry is nearing a tipping point. The silicon chips at the heart of everyday electronic devices are running into performance limits, raising the need for new materials and technologies to continue making faster, more efficient devices.
Stephanie Law was selected as a 2024 fellow by AVS “For contributions to the molecular beam epitaxy of III-V materials and topological insulators for applications in mid-infrared and THz plasmonic and metamaterial devices”. 
Nitin Samarth, Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics, has been selected to receive the American Physical Society’s 2024 David Adler Lectureship Award in the Field of Materials Physics. The award recognizes an outstanding contributor to the field of materials physics who is notable for high quality research, review articles, and lecturing.
By Gail McCormick
A new fusion of materials, each with special electrical properties, has all the components required for a unique type of superconductivity that could provide the basis for more robust quantum computing. The new combination of materials, created by a team led by researchers at Penn State, could also provide a platform to explore physical behaviors similar to those of mysterious, theoretical particles known as chiral Majoranas, which could be another promising component for quantum computing.
Congratulations to Seng Huat (Sam) Lee who received the 2023 Rustum and Della Roy Innovation in Materials Research Award for Research Faculty. He received the award for his outstanding work on bulk growth and characterization of intrinsic magnetic topological insulators among other accomplishments.
Congratulations Sam!
Nitin Samarth has been awarded the 2024 David Adler Lectureship Award in the field of materials physics by the American Physical Society (APS). To read more about this achievement, please click here. Congratulations, Nitin!
By Jamie Oberdick
Researchers from the National Science Foundation-sponsored Two-Dimensional Crystal Consortium (2DCC-MIP) - Materials Innovation Platform may have come up with a solution for a bottleneck that has confounded researchers trying to develop high-quality 2D semiconductors for next generation electronics such as Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence.
By Jamie Oberdick
Two-dimensional materials are vital for the type of semiconductors that will push the future of electronic devices and energy-efficient lighting, but they are a challenge to make. They must have very few defects, difficult given their very small, nano-level size.