Our research effort focuses on understanding the creation of nanostructured materials in the framework of the basic paradigm of materials science and engineering: understanding how to controllably grow and integrate such nanoscale building blocks as nanowires, nanotubes, graphene and nanoparticles with precision, reproducibility and reliability, which lead to important properties for the applications of electronics, optoelectronics, thermoelectrics, sensors, piezo/ferroelectronics and biological engineering. Our group believes that the progress in nanoscience and technology can only be achieved through a detailed atomic-level understanding of the kinetic processes, mass transport mechanisms, chemical reaction paths, and material thermodynamics influencing nanoscale functionalities. For this purpose, we exploit the unique abilities of in situ Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to understand, in real time and at high spatial resolutions, nucleation, catalyst stability, surface structure, phase transformation and growth kinetics in nanoscale systems.
Moreover, we attempt to probe material's response to various stimuli such as strain, heating, cooling, electrical biasing while observing materials processing at atomic resolution. Structural and chemical analyses are also carried out using STEM, EELS and EDS, both in situ and ex situ, of various nanostructures and nanodevices.
