Meet Dr. Dominic Goronzy

Advisor: Dr. Mark C. Hersam

Institution: Northwestern University

Bio:  Dominic P. Goronzy, Ph.D. is currently an IC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University (Prof. Mark C. Hersam). Dr. Goronzy completed his B.S. degree in Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and received his Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles (Prof. Paul S. Weiss). While at the California NanoSystems Institute, Dr. Goronzy leveraged scanning tunneling microscopy to study the properties, interactions, and interface dynamics of self-assembled monolayers and self-assembled molecular networks on the atomistic level. In current work, Dr. Goronzy’s work centers on the characterization and application of novel two-dimensional materials and low dimensional assemblies, with a specific focus on recently synthesized boron based 2D materials known collectively as borophenes. Borophenes are predicted to have many superlative properties, including metallicity, superconductivity, transparency, and anisotropic electronic properties. Dr. Goronzy utilizes his experience with surface and interfacial chemistry and scanning tunneling microscopy to develop new avenues of fabrication, to further characterize the chemical and physical properties of borophenes, and to expand their novel applications.

Abstract:  Borophenes are 2D allotropes of boron that are anisotropic with high polymorphism, which provides intrinsic tunability to materials properties. In particular, borophenes are predicted to be metallic in nature, while also being optically transparent. New materials with enhanced stability and tunable optical, electronic, and plasmonic properties can be created through the chemical functionalization of borophene, thus allowing chemically modified borophene to meet the material needs for novel optoelectronic devices. This study focuses on the fabrication and characterization of functionalized borophene to develop materials with greater stability and enhanced optical and electronic properties. The conversion of borophene to borophane (i.e., hydrogenated borophene) by dosing with atomic hydrogen has shown early success but functionalization of borophene with larger and more complex adamantane chemistry will require further exploration. Additionally, the development of protocols to transfer functionalized borophene from the growth substrate will enable further characterization of the intrinsic properties of chemically modified borophene. Furthermore, this will facilitate the optimization of the electronic, optical, and plasmonic properties of chemically modified borophene. Most critically, the characterization of the plasmonic properties of borophene will ultimately confirm the theorized anisotropic surface plasmons with resonance frequency in the visible range and spur the development of borophene based plasmonic devices. Given the predicted properties and the intrinsic tunability of borophene, it is an ideal material for optoelectronic devices with capabilities beyond that of other 2D materials, like graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides.