Research

AN OVERVIEW OF NoMaD

Research in NoMaD is in the area of nanoelectronics and is focused on three distinct aspects:

Quantum transport in mesoscopic structures. Emphasis is on using mesoscopic devices to investigate novel quantum-transport phenomena (quantum interference, quantum size effects, many-body phenomena), with a strong interest in probing the interface between classical and quantum systems. Prior work has explored manifestations of quantum chaos in open quantum dots, studied the sources of decoherence phenomena, and investigated spontaneous spin polarization in quantum wires. Most recent work has explored quantum fluctuations in disordered mesoscopic graphene, and time-resolved transport in nanodevices.

Investigations of nanoelectronic-device paradigms. Some of the activities in this area include the study of magneto-electric enabled spintronic devices, for low-power and non-volatile operation that can outperform CMOS, and the development plasmonic devices for application to terahertz technology.

Characterization of novel nanomaterials. We have been exploring the electrical properties of a variety of nanostructured materials, including epitaxially formed silicide films and nanowires, various carbon (1D & 2D) nanostructures, and transition-metal dichalcogenides and trichalcogenides.

The results of this research have been published in more than 300 peer-reviewed publications that have been cited almost 10,000 times in the literature (h-index: 45, statistics from Google Scholar).

NoMaD research is currently funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the II-VI Foundation.

SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS

J. E. Han, C. Aron, X. Chen, I. Mansaray, J.-H. Han, K.-S. Ki, M. Randle, and J. P. Bird, "Correlated insulator collapse due to quantum avalanche via in-gap ladder states", Nature Communications 14, 2936 (2023).
J. Nathawat, I. Mansaray, K. Sakanashi, N. Wada, M. D. Randle, S. Yin, K. He, N. Arabchigavkani, R. Dixit, B. Barut, M. Zhao, H. Ramamoorthy, R. Somphonsane, G.-H. Kim, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, N.i Aoki, J. E. Han, and J. P. Bird, "Signatures of hot carriers and hot phonons in the re-entrant metallic and semiconducting states of Moiré-gapped graphene", Nature Communications 14, 1507 (2023).
A. Kefayati, J. P. Bird, and V. Perebeinos, "Detection of single phonons via phonon drag in two-dimensional materials", Physical Review B 106, 155415 (2022)
B. Barut, X. Cantos-Roman, J. Crabb, C.-P. Kwan, R. Dixit, N. Arabchigavkani, S. Yin, J. Nathawat, K. He, M. D. Randle, F. Vandrevala, T. Sugaya, E. Einarsson, J. M. Jornet, J. P. Bird, and G. R. Aizin, "Asymmetrically engineered nanoscale transistors for on-demand sourcing of terahertz plasmons", Nano Letters 22, 2674 (2022)
K. He, B. Barut, S. Yin, M. D. Randle, R. Dixit, N. Arabchigavkani, J. Nathawat, A. Mahmood, W. Echtenkamp, C. Binek, P. A. Dowben, and J. P. Bird, "Graphene on chromia: a system for beyond-room-temperature spintronics", Advanced Materials 34, 2105023 (2022)
A. Mohammadzadeh, S. Baraghani, S. Yin, F. Kargar, J. P. Bird, and A. A. Balandin, "Evidence for a thermally driven charge-density- wave transition in 1T-TaS2 thin-film devices: Prospects for GHz switching speed", Applied Physics Letters 118, 093102 (2021)
N. Arabchigavkani, R. Somphonsane, H. Ramamoorthy, G. He, J. Nathawat, S. Yin, B. Barut, K. He, M. D. Randle, R. Dixit, K. Sakanashi, N. Aoki , K. Zhang, L. Wang, W.-N. Mei, P. A. Dowben, J. Fransson, and J. P. Bird, "Remote mesoscopic signatures of induced magnetic texture in graphene", Physical Review Letters 126, 086802 (2021)
R. Dixit, B. Barut, S. Yin, J. Nathawat, M. Randle, N. Arabchigavkani, K. He, C.-P. Kwan, T. D. Mishima, M. B. Santos, D. K. Ferry , I. R. Sellers , and J. P. Bird, “Pulsed studies of intervalley transfer in Al0.35In0.65As: A paradigm for valley photovoltaics” Physical Review Materials 4, 085404 (2020)
J. Nathawat, K. K. H. Smithe, C. D. English, S. Yin, R. Dixit, M. Randle, N. Arabchigavkani, B. Barut, K. He, E. Pop, and J. P. Bird, "Transient hot-carrier dynamics and intrinsic velocity saturation in monolayer MoS2", Physical Review Materials 4, 014002 (2020)
Y.-H. Lee, S. Xiao, K. W. Kim, J. L. Reno, J. P. Bird, and J. E. Han, “Giant zero bias anomaly due to coherent scattering from frozen phonon disorder in quantum point contacts”, Physical Review Letters 123, 056802 (2019)
M. Randle, A. Lipatov, A. Kumar, C.-P. Kwan, J. Nathawat, B. Barut, S. Yin, K. He, N. Arabchigavkani, R. Dixit, T. Komesu, J. Avila, M. C. Asensio, P. A. Dowben, A. Sinitskii, U. Singisetti, and J. P. Bird, "Gate-controlled metal−insulator transition in TiS3 nanowire field-effect transistors", ACS Nano 13, 803 (2019)
G. He, J. Nathawat, C.-P. Kwan, H. Ramamoorthy, R. Somphonsane, M. Zhao, K. Ghosh, U. Singisetti, N. Perea-López, C. Zhou, A. L. Elías, M. Terrones, Y. Gong, X. Zhang, R. Vajtai, P. M. Ajayan, D. K. Ferry, and J. P. Bird, "Negative Differential Conductance & Hot-Carrier Avalanching in Monolayer WS2 FETs", Scientific Reports 7, 11256 (2017)
M. Matsunaga, A. Higuchi, G. He, T. Yamada, P. Krüger, Y. Ochiai, Y. Gong, R. Vajtai, P. M. Ajayan, J. P. Bird, and N. Aoki, "Nanoscale-barrier formation induced by low-dose electron-beam exposure in ultrathin MoS2 transistors", ACS Nano 10, 9730 (2016)
G. He, H. Ramamoorthy, C.-P. Kwan, Y.-H. Lee, J. Nathawat, R. Somphonsane, M. Matsunaga, A. Higuchi, T. Yamanaka, N. Aoki, Y. Gong, X. Zhang, R. Vajtai, P. M. Ajayan, and J. P. Bird, "Thermally-assisted nonvolatile memory in monolayer MoS2 transistors", Nano Letters 16, 6445 (2016)
H. Ramamoorthy, R. Somphonsane, J. Radice, G. He, C.-P. Kwan, and J. P. Bird, ““Freeing” graphene from its substrate: Observing intrinsic velocity saturation with rapid electrical pulsing”, Nano Letters 16, 399 (2016)
I. Rotter and J. P. Bird, “A review of progress in the physics of open quantum systems: theory and experiment”, Reports on Progress in Physics 78, 114001 (2015)
G. He, K. Ghosh, U. Singisetti, H. Ramamoorthy, R. Somphonsane, G. Bohra, M. Matsunaga, A. Higuchi, N. Aoki, S. Najmaei, Y. Gong, X. Zhang, R. Vajtai, P. M. Ajayan, and J. P. Bird, “Conduction mechanisms in CVD-grown monolayer MoS2 transistors: From variable-range hopping to velocity saturation”, Nano Letters 15, 5052 (2015)