Seminar Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM PT
Location: 67-3111 & Zoom
Talk Title: Atomic-Scale Design of Nanomaterials and Interfaces in the Electron Microscope
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Abstract:
Well-controlled nanostructures and their interfaces with surrounding materials are at the core of our most advanced technologies, from superconducting qubits to emerging catalysts. In this talk, I will describe how we understand and control local structure-property relationships at nanomaterial interfaces using a combination of in-situ ultra-high vacuum (UHV) TEM, environmental TEM (ETEM), and monochromated electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). First, I will explore key parameters of epitaxial nanomaterial growth, including the role of temperature, defects, moiré, surface chemistry, and thermodynamic equilibrium shapes. Second, I will highlight the in situ epitaxial growth of chiral tellurium nanoribbons on the surface of van der Waals materials, exhibiting out-of-equilibrium growth mechanisms. This real-time observation enables us to distinguish rate-limiting processes and uncover kinetic parameters. Third, I will describe how the interface structure influences local electronic and excitonic properties. To conclude, I will discuss how emerging in situ electron microscopy techniques to observe nucleation and growth can unlock fundamental understanding of kinetic and thermodynamic mechanisms, such as growth rates, diffusion phenomena, phase transformation kinetics, strain relaxation mechanisms, and defect formation – designing new materials for integration into energy, quantum, and nanoelectronic devices.
Bio:
Dr. Kate Reidy is currently a Miller Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and the National Center of Electron Microscopy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Before that, she earned her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT. Her research takes a ‘bottom up’ approach to nanoscale design, tailoring material properties by understanding and manipulating their atomic structure. She combines advanced characterization with in situ electron microscopy to provide high spatial and temporal resolution to elucidate kinetic growth mechanisms, chemical composition, and response to stimuli at the atomic scale. Her work has been recognized by the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering ‘Best Doctoral Thesis’ Award, Microscopy Society of America, Materials Research Society Gold Award, and MIT Energy Initiative.
