International exchange award: 2D materials device fabrication for charge and heat transport measurements

Dr Nilanthy Balakrishnan at IMRE, A*-STAR, Singapore

Dr Nilanthy Balakrishnan, Senior Lecturer at Keele University, was awarded an M4QN international exchange grant to visit Professor Kedar Hippalgaonkar’s research groups at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering in Singapore. The visit took place from 17th-20th December 2024.

2D materials device fabrication for charge and heat transport measurements

Prof. Hippalgonkar’s group at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), A*-STAR, Singapore is studying to understand fundamental heat and charge transport from the nanoscale to the bulk, building from nanowires, 2D materials, hybrid and bulk materials. In particular, they are interested in interactions between electrons, phonons and photons in nanoscale materials and how these can be manipulated to design and create novel functional devices.

The visit allowed Nilanthy to interact with many researchers at the institute and get had hands-on experience in device fabrication for heat transport measurements. Nilanthy says, “My research focuses on synthesising novel 2D materials for different applications, including sensing and energy conversion/storage. I am developing physical vapour transport (PVT), chemical vapour deposition (CVD), and aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) methods to grow these 2D material layers and fabricate devices out of these grown materials. The preliminary aim of my visit to IMRE in A*-STAR was to expand my skills in charge and heat transport measurements and to build new collaborations.”

Benefits to the UK materials and quantum community

The visit fits with M4QN’s two overarching goals, (i) the formation of a new interdisciplinary research community, and (ii) the identification of new interdisciplinary research topics within application areas as it brought together researchers in materials and quantum technologies.

In the area of quantum technologies, 2D materials-based flexible and wearable sensors, flexible high-frequency devices, mechanical terahertz modulators, radio frequency transistors, and low-power electronics have been identified as having market and technological potential. The visit by Nilanthy to IMRE, A*-STAR enabled her to build two specific collaborative projects, (i) to develop terahertz sensors, and (ii) materials development to improve the efficiency of heat-electricity conversion. These collaborative projects will produce new knowledge, methodologies and tools, that benefit the UK materials and quantum community.

New collaboration

Nilanthy says “My international exchange visit resulted in active collaborations between my research group (Balakrishnan research group) at Keele University and Prof. Hippalgaonkar’s group in IMRE, A*-STAR. We will apply for funding for future mutual visits, for example, the Royal Society International Exchange, the EPSRC Overseas collaboration grant, and the A*STAR Research Attachment Programme. During this short visit, we haven’t obtained enough results for publication, but a publication could come out in the next one or two years.”