Experimental capabilities

From process concept to measured material

Thirteen years at the bench growing carbon, patterning materials that resist being patterned, and measuring the interfaces that decide whether a device works.

Discuss a project Full CV

01 · Synthesis

Carbon growth and process development

Designing and troubleshooting growth routes for atomically thin carbon, graphene, and nanotube networks—then translating a successful coupon experiment into a repeatable process.

Monolayer amorphous carbon: layer-by-layer growth, continuity and uniformity, transfer, interface integration, and application-specific process windows.
Graphene CVD: ambient-pressure and hydrogen-free Boudouard growth, nucleation and percolation control, crystal-quality diagnosis, and dielectric-substrate routes.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes: aerosol CVD reactor tuning, catalyst nucleation, collection, film formation, and controlled densification.
Process troubleshooting: separating chemistry, reactor, substrate, contamination, and transfer failures using targeted experiments.
Scale-up assessment: identifying what changes between a proof-of-concept sample and wafer-compatible processing.

02 · Fabrication

Advanced nanolithography

Patterning routes for atomically thin, soft, porous, and bio-organic materials that conventional solvents, resists, heat, or plasma steps can destroy.

Electron-beam and optical lithography: process selection, alignment, lift-off, exposure, and stack design for nanoscale devices.
Gentle resist chemistry: water-processable and biocompatible routes based on chitosan for delicate and biological specimens.
Liquid-free patterning: direct structuring and transfer of nanotube films where wet processing changes the network.
AFM-based nanopatterning: local oxidation, mechanical manipulation, and patterning of multicomponent van der Waals stacks.
Failure-aware integration: process flows designed around adhesion, contamination, charging, delamination, and sample fragility.

03 · Characterisation

Scanning probe microscopy

Topography is only the beginning. I use scanning probes to map mechanical, magnetic, electrical, and interfacial behaviour at the scale where thin-film failures originate.

AFM and PeakForce QNM: nanoscale topography, deformation, adhesion, modulus, dissipation, and spatially resolved interface comparison.
Magnetic force microscopy: vortex and pinning landscapes in superconducting and magnetic thin films.
STM and conductive probing: local electronic contrast and charge-transport measurements.
Custom probes: fabrication of carbon-nanotube scanning probes when commercial tips lack the required aspect ratio or durability.
Quantitative interpretation: artefact diagnosis, calibration strategy, image processing, and correlation with independent measurements.

04 · Measurement

Charge transport and thin-film metrology

Connecting structure and interfaces to electrical response across length scales, from individual biological nanofilaments to macroscopic nanotube networks and two-dimensional films.

Terahertz–infrared spectroscopy: contact-free electrodynamics and transport-mechanism analysis in nanotube and composite films.
Impedance spectroscopy: frequency-dependent charge transfer in biological, polymeric, and nanostructured materials.
Electrical and noise measurements: device-level transport, contact effects, and fluctuation-based diagnosis.
Mechanical and adhesion metrology: quantitative comparison of ultrathin films and buried interfaces.
Data and model integration: Python-based analysis pipelines and experiment–simulation comparison with mesoscopic and atomistic collaborators.

Technique index

Practical toolkit

Methods I have used directly for research, process development, analysis, or technical review.

Carbon CVD: Graphene, monolayer amorphous carbon, aerosol-grown SWCNTs; reactor and process optimisation.
2D-material transfer: Stack assembly, support-layer selection, contamination control, fragile-film handling.
Electron-beam lithography: Device patterning, alignment, lift-off, resist and exposure-process selection.
Optical lithography: Thin-film and device process flows, including delicate and non-standard substrates.
AFM nanolithography: Local oxidation, mechanical patterning, manipulation, and nanoscale process evaluation.
PeakForce QNM: Topography, adhesion, deformation, dissipation, and nanomechanical mapping.
MFM and STM: Magnetic textures, vortex pinning, local electronic structure, and conductive contrast.
Electrical spectroscopy: Terahertz–infrared, impedance, transport, and noise measurements.
Analysis and review: Python data pipelines, microscopy and spectroscopy interpretation, failure analysis, technical due diligence.

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External work is subject to NUS requirements, existing confidentiality obligations, and conflict checks. Scope and availability are confirmed before any engagement begins.