Stephen McDonnell, University of Virginia assistant professor of materials science and engineering, and Costel Constantin, James Madison University associate professor of physics, have launched a research project that could lead to more responsive touch screens.They have earned a 4-VA grant to study a class of 2D materials called transparent conductors.
“Every single touch screen has these transistors,” Constantin said. “This is how the device follows your finger as you move it across the screen.”
Transparent conductors are multi-layered thin films that can absorb a certain percentage of light.
“While you can thin down silicon to about 50 nanometers and make them flexible, here we're talking about atomically thin films,” McDonnell said.
Constantin's transparent conductor of choice is an indium-tin oxide, which he grows in his lab at JMU. McDonnell's research group will conduct experiments to understand how Constantin's indium-tin oxide interacts with semi-conducting 2D materials such as tungsten disulfide to provide the metal contact necessary to excite and move electrons and power devices. They will capture the chemical reactions that occur during wafer-scale fabrication processes, which in turn affect the material layer's ability to bond and the electrons' flow through the semiconductor.
“The 4-VA grant gives us the opportunity to work with materials that are less familiar to us,” Constantin said. For McDonnell's group members, who work with 2D materials to meet a range of needs such as energy harvesting and generation, the grant allows them to better define challenges for realizing alternative uses within the semiconductor industry.
The 4-VA grant program incentivizes genuine collaboration among colleges and universities within the Commonwealth, centered around eight institutions that have formalized their partnership.
This is Constantin's third 4-VA grant with UVA Engineering. He has formed similar collaborations with Patrick Hopkins, Whitney Stone Professor of Engineering and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Jon Ihlefeld, associate professor of materials science and engineering and electrical and computer engineering.
These previous collaborations opened the door for a life-long research enrichment at both JMU and UVA . As of today, six students from Constantin's lab went to UVA to pursue graduate degrees. This number proves how effective 4-VA grants are to help recruiting and training great minds in the field of science.
“The 4-VA grant program's seed funding opened doors not only for me, but also for my students,” Constantin said. “We are building a community of faculty and students with shared interests in understanding materials' fundamental properties. We have cleared a path for JMU students to continue their research as UVA Engineering graduate students.”
As of today, six students from Constantin's lab went to UVA to pursue graduate degrees. “This number proves how effective 4-VA grants are to help recruiting and training great minds in the field of science,” Constantin said.