Lattice defects play an important role in determining the optical and electrical properties of monolayer semiconductors such as MoS2. Although the structures of various defects in monolayer MoS2 are well studied, little is known about the properties of the fluorescent defect species and their interaction with molecular adsorbates.

In solution-based synthesis, often doping efficiencies are low and dopants are excluded from the nanocrystals’ central cores. The research team developed a fundamentally different plasma-based process for synthesizing aluminum-doped zinc oxide nanocrystals.

Wisconsin MRSEC researchers have developed a method to synthesize materials with precisely controlled crystal structures, even when the same atoms could arrange themselves into a different structure with nearly the same energy. The methods allow them to make highly perfect films of cubic aluminum oxide with widespread applications in electronic materials, catalysis, and surface passivation.

This work represents the first study to establish fluoride as a universal amorphizing agent in the  indium oxide system, and by inference, may play a similar role in related oxide semiconductor materials.

Defects in liquid crystals can function as nanoscopic molds for assembling molecules

A collaboration between the University of Chicago MRSEC groups of Jaeger, Patel, and Rowan showed that the complex modulus of a dense suspension of microparticles can be increased exponentially over several orders of magnitude by applying interval training during oscillatory shear, leading to a structural memory.

Objective: Compare the UV plasmonic response of Al and Mg nanostructures. Light transmission through sub-wavelength aperture arrays shows significant

Objective:  Explore the potential for obtaining very high electron concentrations at the interface between two complex oxides and examine its relevance for terahertz (THz) applications.