Singh Center for Nanotechnology Seminar: Graphene Sensors and Optoelectronics: Synthesis, Integration and Application
Thursday, February 14, 2019 – 11:00 – 12:00 pm
Glandt Forum – Singh Center for Nanotechnology
Dr. Mohamed Serry,
Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the American University in Cairo,
Visiting Research Scholar, Princeton University
ABSTRACT
Advanced sensors, optoelectronics, and the fledging field of Spintronics based on 2D materials (e.g. graphene and MoS2) have rapidly emerged in the last few years, as many 2D materials possess superior electronic and magnetic properties of enormous potential. The two key challenges in the useful utilization and scalability of 2D materials are monolithic integration with the device structure and understanding the electron transport phenomenon at the nano-scale level. Overcoming these two obstacles gives us new opportunities to discover novel device architectures and properties, and can enable superior performance ultra low power consumption electronic devices and sensors.
I present the idea of using a graphene-based heterojunction to achieve high sensitivity and wide detection range for photodetectors, radiation, and biochemical sensors. I also present an optimized novel technique for medium to low-temperature monolithic integration of CVD graphene on semiconductor devices based on a catalytic atomic layer of platinum grown at temperatures below 250°C, which facilitates scalability and MEMS/CMOS integration. The devices rely on the generation of electrical current or resistance change by incoming ionizing or non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation. It has been demonstrated that the integration of graphene leads to a massive enhancement in sensitivity of up to 11 times, coupled with a 5 times increase in the sensing range compared to conventional metal/semiconductor junctions. Further, the proposed graphene-integrated device has shown high sensitivity to infrared radiation, which opens the door for implementation as infrared bolometers. I further discuss the feasibility of graphene-integrated electronics and silicon photonics and the resulting superior performance of such structures in photodetectors and physical/chemical sensors by drawing upon the fundamental research in photon, electro-chemical and electro-mechanical interactions, the study of electron transport phenomena in response to sensed stimuli, and by further engineering of the band structure in relation to the microstructures to better understand and enhance their performance in sensing and energy applications.
BIO
Dr. Mohamed Serry is currently a Visiting Research Scholar at Princeton University and a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the American University in Cairo (AUC), and Leader of the Microfabrication and Advanced Sensor Technologies Research Group at Youssef Jameel Science and Technology Research Center (YJSTRC). He is specialized in microfabrication processes and semiconductor materials optimization for MEMS, Advanced Sensors, Biosensors, and plasmonic nano-biosensors. More specifically, his main contributions are in the areas of graphene-integrated devices, optimizing materials for semiconductor processing, integration of nano-structures on MEMS platforms, design and fabrication of high performance MEMS inertial sensors, optimizing microfabrication processes for RF MEMS and plasmonic nano-biosensing applications, and design and implementation of on-Chip Sensing and Imaging Platforms for Biological Diagnostics.
Dr. Serry holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (University of Toronto), an M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (University of Alberta), and a B.Sc. in Mechanical Design and Production Engineering (Ain Shams University), as well a string of research grants, honors and awards. In addition to his academic credentials, he has being published in fifty-six peer-reviewed journals and conferences, one book chapter, and has four granted and pending United States patents. Dr. Serry was awarded several national and international research grants totaling more than US $700,000. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the Materials Research Society (MRS).
