Title of Research Group: Architecture and Synthesis of Integrated Nanostructures (ASIN)

Principal Investigator: Prof. Georg S. Duesberg

Institution: Trinity College Dublin (CRANN,AMBER)

School: School of Chemistry

Research:
Our group specialises in the synthesis, characterisation and functionalisation of 2D layered materials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides like MoS2, with the goal of incorporating these materials into various device architectures. 2D materials have recently attracted a lot of research interest due to their exceptional electrical, mechanical and optical properties. The growth of high-quality monolayer films on a large scale is one of the main challenges in this field and one of the main focus points of our group. Among other techniques such as Raman spectroscopy or scanning probe microscopy, photoemission spectroscopy is a powerful tool for the assessment of the quality and properties of the grown films and is essential for the optimisation of our growth methods. Furthermore, some applications like selective sensing or the fabrication of pn-junctions within a single layer require functionalisation of the 2D materials to alter their doping levels and/or surface chemistry. Our group follows both non-covalent as well as covalent functionalisation routes on a variety of materials, and again photoemission spectroscopy is one of the main characterisation tools for these materials systems. Driven by the need for higher spectral resolution and more surface sensitivity in the XPS characterisation on some of these materials and material systems, we recently began using synchrotron radiation at the Matline at ASTRD2. Even the first few results obtained at this beam line have already revealed a significant amount of new information about our materials, which helped us to produce samples and devices of higher quality.

Techniques: XPS, SXPS, UPS

Facilities: ASTRID2

Beamlines: Matline

Group (as of 2014): 6 PhD students, 7 postdocs, 2 Intel Researchers-in-Residence

Participating group members at SR/FEL/neutron facilities (period 2008-2014):
Nina C. Berner (postdoc) and Toby Hallam (postdoc)

Impact: –

Quote: –

Publication Highlights: None yet arising directly from SR use (first beam time too recent)

Website: http://chemistry.tcd.ie/staff/people/duesberg/ASIN/index.html