Huang Lab Tour

Our group uses transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy to understand nanomaterials and devices at the atomic scale. Using recent advances in aberration-corrected electron microscopy, we aim to image the structure, bonding, electronic, optical properties of materials with unprecedented precision—especially in 2D materials such as graphene. Studying this new class of nanomaterials offers a two-fold opportunity: first, 2D materials serve as model systems to directly correlate the structure and properties of individual atomic features. In these studies, the reduced dimensionality of 2D materials allow us to access new regimes in complex materials systems, such as the real-space, atomic-scale structure of glass.  Second, because defects, dopants, and interfaces have dramatic effects on the properties of materials that are only a single unit-cell thick, these studies allow for dramatic tuning of the properties of 2D materials. Together, this research aims to harness the incredible insights of atom-by-atom microscopy to design novel nanomaterials and devices.