Electronic Materials and Organisms

Our interest in this thrust ranges from studying novel semiconductors to electroactive organisms. Over the past several years, we have been pioneering the materials processing and fundamental studies of semiconducting atomic layers, ranging from ultrathin III-V compounds, to 2-dimensional transition metal chalcogenides, to ultrathin Si. We are also interested in studying electroactive organisms from both fundamental and applied perspectives.

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Representative contributions

1. Semiconductor nanomeshes.  The group has pioneered studies on free-standing Si nanomesh for stretchable microelectronics.  By making an ultrathin Si into homogeneous nanomeshes, we achieve high mobility semiconductors that are intrinsically stretchable to conventional microelectronic layouts (npj Flexible Electronics, 2019).  Besides potential applications in stretchable electronics, this semiconductor nanomesh concept provides a new platform for materials engineering and is expected to yield a new family of stretchable inorganic materials having tunable electronic and optoelectronic properties with customized nanostructures.

2. 2D semiconductors and devices. We previously performed many of the initial experiments on ultrathin semiconductors that have become the cornerstone of the more broadly defined field of 2D electronics. Among the first demonstrations include the integration of ultra-thin III-V CMOS on Si (Nano Letters, 2011; APL, 2011; Nano Letters, 2012; IEEE EDL, 2012), the first p-type transistor from two-dimensional (2D) single layered chalcogenides and their first molecular doping (Nano Letters, 2012; Nano Letters, 2013), and the first 2D-2D semiconductor heterostructures (PNAS, 2014). Fang also discovered the quantum unit of light absorption in 2D semiconductors (PNAS, 2013).