Professor of Experimental Materials Physics Kostas Sarakinos studies, how individual atoms arrange themselves into thin films.
What are your research topics?
I investigate how individual atoms, which start out in a gaseous state, arrange themselves into ordered solid structures when they meet a solid surface. This process is one of the main ways we create new materials that are just a few nanometers in size or even smaller.
Such materials have physical properties and behaviors that are very different from those with macroscopic dimensions, and they have played a key role in technological advances in areas like microelectronics, energy conversion and storage, and communications.
In short, my group specializes in the field of physical vapor deposition of thin films. We use experimental tools that allow us to build thin-film materials made up of more than one chemical element with unprecedented precision - literally atom by atom. We can study how these films form in real time, and we connect their structure and composition to important functional properties, such as electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, optical transparency, and resistance to radiation damage.
We also develop computational tools for modeling processes occurring during formation of thin films. This way we access time and length scales not achievable in experiments. Our computational tools are based on the most advanced machine-learning methods.
Where and how does the topic of your research have an impact?
Thin films are everywhere. They have been essential to the revolution in microelectronics by enabling the production of new semiconductor materials. They have made it possible to mass produce precision components for aviation by improving the lifetime and performance of metal cutting and forming tools.
Thin films have also helped dramatically increase the efficiency and reduce the fuel consumption of internal combustion engines by reducing friction between moving parts. In recent years, their importance has grown in fields like photovoltaics, batteries, and catalysis, making them a crucial part of the ongoing energy transition.
As technology becomes more advanced and performance requirements become stricter, there is a growing need for custom-designed thin-film materials with carefully controlled structures at multiple length scales. My research is timely because it addresses this need by advancing our fundamental understanding of the mechanisms that control how individual atoms arrange themselves during thin film synthesis. This knowledge can help us harness the unique properties of modern two-dimensional materials (like graphene) in new devices, create alloys for solid-state hydrogen storage, and support the expansion of photovoltaic technology into the terawatt scale.
What is inspiring in your field right now?
Thin film physics and technology is a well-established field, but until now, much of our understanding has been based on observing phenomena rather than truly understanding the underlying mechanisms. What are the mechanisms that govern the structure and properties of thin films?
Recent advances in scientific instruments, new concepts for material synthesis (an area where my group is actively contributing), and computational tools are now allowing us, for the first time, to observe atomic motion in real time and to develop accurate models that describe the physical processes behind thin film formation.
This is an exciting era for the field: not only can we design materials atom by atom, but we can also actually create them that way. My group endeavors to be at the forefront of this revolution.
