Advanced Nanoelectronics & Nanostructures Laboratory

Welcome to ANNLab, led by Prof. Zafer Mutlu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, with joint appointments in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Physics.

We work in nanoscience and nanotechnology, from materials through devices to circuits, combining fundamental science with applied engineering. We build low-dimensional and quantum materials with atomic-scale control, study how charge carriers, quantum states, and acoustic waves behave under that confinement, and develop the results into devices for computing, sensing, and communication. Synthesis, nanofabrication, and measurement are carried out in-house.

A central focus is atomically precise graphene nanoribbons, narrow carbon structures whose electronic properties are set by their width and edge geometry and can be programmed through chemistry. We develop them as transistor channels for computing beyond silicon, and as quantum sensors for radiation detection in extreme environments and for detection approaching the single-molecule limit. Alongside this, we build topological acoustic wave devices for next-generation wireless communication, study the semiconductor physics of copper-bearing minerals to strengthen the supply of a critical material, and run smaller exploratory projects on questions that fall between fields.