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Tomas Daugalas, a researcher in the Department of Physical Technologies of Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC), has been awarded a Doctor of Science degree. He defended his thesis titled "Investigation of Dependence of Electrical Properties on External Mechanical Force and Electrical Field in a Structure with Graphene Sheet Separating Surfaces of Conductors" (scientific supervisor: dr.(hp) Arūnas Šetkus).

Congratulations to the colleague!

In his thesis, Tomas presented his research on the electric charge transfer perpendicular to the graphene plane. This research focuses on a group of new, thin-film, two-dimensional (2D) materials whose popularity and origins can be attributed to the Nobel Prize-winning graphene. As modern devices are made of components with increasingly smaller dimensions, new 2D materials provide a possible direction for technological development.

"We can use the properties of 2D materials not only in-plane (as is commonly used in semiconductors), but also to create vertically stacked structures. These structures can allow us to significantly reduce the size of the devices and to exploit the yet little explored 2D properties of materials in the direction perpendicular to the plane. This can provide new and interesting ways of controlling the performance and operation of systems.

Reducing the size of electronic components enables the development of ever smaller and more efficient devices. However, the most notable are the next generation of devices focusing on electronics on flexible surfaces, medical devices, elements for robotics or other innovative technology areas," says the new PhD.

"In my work, I have analyzed the most primitive situation of charge transfer perpendicular to the graphene plane, where a single layer of graphene (monolayer) is positioned between two metallic contacts. Since both theoretical and experimental work in this field is relatively uncommon, the results of this work have allowed the development and experimental validation of an initial model explaining the mechanisms of electric charge transfer mechanisms. This can be seen as an initial starting point for the investigation and analysis of more complex structures made up of several different materials, or in the presence of other structural changes," Daugalas said.