Dr. Saroj Nayak

The PhysOrg.com article Graphene Nanoelectronics: Making Tomorrow’s Computers from a Pencil Trace said

A key discovery at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute could help advance the role of graphene as a possible heir to copper and silicon in nanoelectronics.
 
Graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon, eluded scientists for years but was finally made in the laboratory in 2004 with the help of everyday, store-bought clear adhesive tape. Graphite, the common material used in most pencils, is made up of countless layers of graphene. Researchers simply used the gentle stickiness of tape to break apart these layers.
 
Saroj Nayak, an associate professor in Rensselaer’s Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, has worked with graduate student Philip Shemella and others for two years to determine how graphene’s extremely efficient conductive properties can be exploited for use in nanoelectronics. After running dozens of robust computer simulations, the group has demonstrated for the first time that the length, as well as the width, of graphene directly impacts the material’s conduction properties.

Saroj Nayak, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Physics, Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
 
Saroj’s research interests lie at the interface of physics, chemistry and engineering, with principle areas of focus on the study of atomic and electronic structures of matters using ab initio electronic structure calculation methods with classical and quantum molecular dynamics simulations and Monte Carlo methods. The two major recent focuses of his research are: study of nanostructured materials and simulations of biological molecules using electronic structure methods.
 
He coauthored Mechanism for Intein C-Terminal Cleavage: A Proposal from Quantum Mechanical Calculations, Annealing-induced interfacial toughening using a molecular nanolayer, First principles study of CO oxidation on TiO₂(110): The role of surface oxygen vacancies, First-principles calculations of spin-polarized electron transport in a molecular wire: Molecular spin valve, Photoinduced oxidation of carbon nanotubes, Evolution of Bonding in Al_nN clusters: A transition from Non-metallic and to Metallic Character, and Complex dynamics of atomic clusters. Read his full list of publications!
 
Saroj graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India in 1995, with a Ph.D. degree in physical science. Before joining the faculty at Rensselaer in 2000, he was a Princeton Materials Institute Jr. Fellow at Princeton University.