Jerry A. Yang

As global computational demands in energy and data increase exponentially, novel materials are required to augment the performance of traditional silicon chips. My work focuses on exploring two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, materials that may be able to satisfy the requirements of next-generation computing.

As global computational demands in energy and data increase exponentially, novel materials are required to augment the performance of traditional silicon chips. Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are novel materials that are atomically thin and offer unique physical, mechanical, optical, and electronic properties that make them interesting for next-generation computing. My work focuses on the 2D semiconductor tungsten disulfide (WS2). In the first part of my PhD, I focused on exploring the fundamental relationships between strain, defects, and electronic properties in WS2. My work showed that increased biaxial tensile strain had a significant improvement in the field-effect mobility and on-state current drive of WS2 field-effect transistors with record-high strain sensitivity, demonstrating their potential use as sensors. In the second part of my PhD, I applied my strain work to design WS2-based flexible circuits and memory devices, paving the way toward intelligent in-sensor computers based on strain-sensitive 2D TMDs. Currently, I am developing WS2-based vertical flash memory devices to potentially replace current silicon-based data storage technologies. My work underscores the potential for 2D semiconductors to make a significant impact on next-generation computing.