Atomic Membranes as Molecular Interfaces

IRG Senior Participants:
Paul McEuen (co-leader, Phys), Jiwoong Park (co-leader, Chem), Garnet Chan (C&CB), Harold Craighead (AEP), Richard Hennig (MSE), Jeevak Parpia (Phys), Farhan
Rana (ECE), Michael Spencer (ECE)
Collaborators: Adrian Bachtold (CNM-CSIC, Spain), William Mitchel (Air Force), Nathaniel Quick (AppliCote Associates), Vinayak Tilak (Semicond. Tech. Lab), Goutom Koley (Univ. of South Carolina), Edwin Kan (Cornell ECE), Maxim Zalalutdinov (Naval Research Laboratory)

Our group is exploring the properties of atomic membranes: mechanically robust, freestanding films of material as thin as a single atom. The prototypical example is graphene, a single sheet of graphite. We are examining the mechanical, thermal, optical, and electronic properties of this novel material, as well as studying the effect of individual defects and adsorbates on it. In addition, we are using these membranes as an atomically thin interface between different environments, such as gas/vacuum or liquid/gas. This unprecedented ability to put different phases in nanoscale proximity, separated by only an atomically-thin wall, makes possible a wealth of new nanoscale measurements.

E-mail IRG leaders: Paul McEuen and Jiwoong Park