Functional Materials Group

Overview

The Functional Materials Group works at the boundary between materials science, solid-state physics, and device engineering. We are interested in materials that do something beyond providing structural support — materials that transduce signals, store energy, change shape, or respond to environmental stimuli. Our goal is to understand these functional responses at a fundamental level, and to engineer their magnitude, reversibility, and stability for real-world application.

Current emphasis areas include two-dimensional materials (graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides), perovskite-structured oxides with coupled magnetic and ferroelectric order, shape-memory alloys and polymers, and piezoelectric ceramics. We synthesize materials by a range of methods — chemical vapor deposition, pulsed laser deposition, sol-gel processing, and electrodeposition — and characterize them with a combination of structural, electrical, optical, and mechanical techniques. Our Cleanroom & Nanofabrication Facility access enables device-level testing of thin-film functional systems.

We collaborate closely with the Integrated Photonics Lab on electro-optic thin-film modulators and with the Catalysis & Green Chemistry Lab on catalyst supports with engineered surface chemistry. Several projects target energy applications: thermoelectric generators for waste-heat recovery, piezoelectric energy harvesters for structural health monitoring, and thin-film photovoltaics on flexible substrates.

Research themes

• Two-dimensional materials: synthesis, doping, heterostructure assembly
• Multiferroic perovskites: magnetoelectric coupling and switching
• Piezoelectric and ferroelectric thin films for sensing and actuation
• Shape-memory alloys and polymers: thermomechanical cycling and fatigue
• Thermoelectric materials: Seebeck coefficient engineering and ZT enhancement
• Flexible and stretchable electronics on polymer substrates
• Surface and interface science: adhesion, tribology, and corrosion resistance