Faculty Directory
Mark C. Hersam

Chair of Materials Science and Engineering

Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and (by courtesy) Electrical and Computer Engineering and Chemistry

Director, Materials Research Science and Engineering (MRSEC)

Contact

2220 Campus Drive
Cook Hall 2036; Office - Cook 1135
Evanston, IL 60208

Email Mark Hersam

Website

The Hersam Research Group

Departments

Materials Science and Engineering

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Affiliations

PhD Program in Applied Physics

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Education

Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, IL

M.Phil. Microelectronic Engineering and Semiconductor Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

B.S. Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, IL


Research Interests

Low-Dimensional Nanoelectronic Materials

The Hersam Research Group specializes in the synthesis, purification, functionalization, and application of low-dimensional nanoelectronic materials including monodisperse carbon nanotubes, graphene, plasmonic nanoparticles, transition metal dichalcogenides, hexagonal boron nitride, black phosphorus, and borophene. Surface chemical functionalization allows further tunability over the properties of these low-dimensional nanoelectronic materials including self-assembled monolayers on epitaxial graphene, covalent functionalization of graphene epoxide, monolayer molybdenum disulfide, graphene nanoribbons on germanium, surface passivation of black phosphorus, and organic-borophene heterostructures. The integration of these diverse materials into mixed-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures enables significant advances in diverse applications including thin-film transistors, memristors, transparent conductors, photovoltaics, batteries, biosensors, and quantum computing. In addition to fundamental studies, the Hersam Research Group commercializes low-dimensional nanoelectronic materials through scalable nanomanufacturing methods such as continuous flow solution processing and a range of printing methods encompassing inkjet, aerosol jet, gravure, screen, and 3D printing.


Significant Recognition

  • MacArthur Fellowship, 2014
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow, 2014
  • ACS Arthur K. Doolittle Award in Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering, 2013
  • APS Fellow, 2012
  • MRS Fellow, 2012
  • SPIE Fellow, 2012
  • AVS Fellow, 2012
  • Materials Research Society Outstanding Young Investigator Award, 2010
  • SES Research Young Investigator Award, Electrochemical Society, 2010
  • Teacher of the Year Award, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2009
  • Teacher of the Year Award, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University 2007
  • Young Alumni Achievement Award, ECE Department, UIUC, 2007
  • AVS Peter Mark Award, 2006
  • TMS Robert Lansing Hardy Award, 2006
  • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 2005
  • Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 2005
  • Army Research Office Young Investigator Award, 2005
  • Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, 2005
  • Teacher of the Year in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2003
  • National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2002
  • Arnold and Mabel Beckman Young Investigator Award, 2001
  • IBM Distinguished Fellowship, 1999
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1997
  • British Marshall Scholarship, 1996

Selected Publications

X. Liu, Q. Li, Q. Ruan, M. S. Rahn, B. I. Yakobson, and M. C. Hersam, “Borophene synthesis beyond the single-atomic-layer limit,” Nature Materials, 21, 35 (2022).

C. M. Thomas, W. J. Hyun, H. C. Huang, D. Zeng, and M. C. Hersam, “Blade-coatable hexagonal boron nitride ionogel electrolytes for scalable production of lithium metal batteries,” ACS Energy Letters, 7, 1558 (2022).

D. Lam, D. Lebedev, L. Kuo, V. K. Sangwan, B. M. Szydłowska, F. Ferraresi, A. Söll, Z. Sofer, and M. C. Hersam, “Liquid-phase exfoliation of magnetically and optoelectronically active ruthenium trichloride nanosheets,” ACS Nano, 16, 11315 (2022).

N. S. Luu, K.-Y. Park, and M. C. Hersam, “Characterizing and mitigating chemomechanical degradation in high-energy lithium-ion battery cathode materials,” Accounts of Materials Research, 3, 511 (2022).

Q. Li, V. S. C. Kolluru, M. S. Rahn, E. Schwenker, S. Li, R. G. Hennig, P. Darancet, M. K. Y. Chan, and M. C. Hersam, “Synthesis of borophane polymorphs through hydrogenation of borophene,” Science, 371, 1143 (2021).

H. Bergeron, D. Lebedev, and M. C. Hersam, “Polymorphism in post-dichalcogenide two-dimensional materials,” Chemical Reviews, 121, 2713 (2021).

V. K. Sangwan and M. C. Hersam, “Neuromorphic nanoelectronic materials,” Nature Nanotechnology, 15, 517 (2020).

X. Liu and M. C. Hersam, "2D materials for quantum information science," Nature Reviews Materials, 4, 669 (2019).

V. K. Sangwan, H.-S. Lee, H. Bergeron, I. Balla, M. E. Beck, K.-S. Chen, and M. C. Hersam, "Multi-terminal memtransistors from polycrystalline monolayer MoS2," Nature, 554, 500 (2018).

D. Jariwala, T. J. Marks, and M. C. Hersam, "Mixed-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures," Nature Materials, 16, 170 (2017).