【Master Forum】Van der Waals Heterostructures & Superlattices: The Bo(u)ndless Designs Beyond 2D

May 12, 2025 Upcoming

Topic: Van der Waals Heterostructures & Superlattices: The Bo(u)ndless Designs Beyond 2D

Speaker: Prof. Xiangfeng Duan

Host: Prof. Ben Zhong Tang

Date: Monday, May 12, 2025

Time: 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Venue: TxC 203

Language: English

Abstract:?

The emergence of two-dimensional atomic crystals (2DACs) and van der Waals heterostructures (VDWHs) has enabled a bonding-free strategy to build complex heterostructures beyond conventional epitaxy. This talk will begin with an overview of early efforts to leverage van der Waals (VDW) interactions for integrating diverse materials with pristine interfaces. I will then highlight our recent progress in creating a broad family of VDW superlattices (VDWSLs) composed of alternating 2DAC layers and self-assembled molecular interlayers with tunable chemical and structural features. These molecular layers allow precise control over the electronic, optoelectronic, and topological properties of 2DACs—including the realization of chiral molecular superlattices that exhibit spin-selective transport and chiral superconductivity. By combining molecular design with modular assembly, 2D-molecular VDWSLs offer a versatile platform to engineer emergent properties and unconventional functionalities by design.

Speaker Profile:

Dr. Xiangfeng Duan received his B.S. Degree from University of Science and Technology of China in 1997, and Ph.D. degree from Harvard University in 2002. From 2002-2008, he was a Founding Scientist responsible for advanced technology development at Nanosys Inc., a nanotechnology startup founded based partly on his doctoral research. Dr. Duan joined UCLA with a Howard Reiss Career Development Chair in 2008, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012, Full Professor in 2013, and Distinguished Professor in 2023 with the Raymond A. and Dorothy A. Wilson endowed term chair (2024). His research interest includes nanoscale materials, devices and their applications in future electronics, energy and health technologies.

Dr. Duan has received many awards for his pioneering research in nanoscale science and technology, including MIT Technology Review Top-100 Innovator Award, NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, NSF Career Award, Alpha Chi Sigma Glen T. Seaborg Award, US Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), ONR Young Investigator Award, DOE Early Career Scientist Award, Human Frontier Science Program Young Investigator Award, Dupont Young Professor, the Beilby Medal and Prize, International Society of Electrochemistry Zhao-Wu Tian Prize for Energy Electrochemistry, Materials Research Society Middle Career Researcher Award, IEEE Nanotechnology Council Distinguished Lectureship, the IEEE Pioneer Award in Nanotechnology and most recently Royal Society of Chemistry Stephanie L. Kwolek Prize and Faraday Horizon Prize. He is an elected Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry, American Association for the Advancement of Science and National Academy of Inventors.