OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
Alexander A. Balandin is a distinguished professor and vice chair for graduate education at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He directs the Phonon Optimized Engineered Materials (UCLA POEM) Laboratory at the MSE department and the Brillouin – Mandelstam Spectroscopy (BMS) Laboratory at The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI). Before rejoining UCLA, he served as a founding chair of the MSE program and director of the NanoFab at a sister UC campus in Riverside. Professor Balandin’s expertise is in the physics of materials. Among his research achievements are investigating the acoustic phonon transport and thermal conductivity of graphene and few-layer graphene; studying the acoustic phonon confinement effects in semiconductor nanostructure; developing the concept of phonon engineering; and using low-frequency electronic noise measurements for material characterization. He developed the optothermal technique for measuring the thermal conductivity of 2D materials by converting a Raman spectrometer to a heater and a temperature sensor. The technique became a standard method in numerous laboratories worldwide. Professor Balandin’s current research interests include low-dimensional van der Waals materials; charge density waves and other strongly correlated phenomena in novel materials and nanostructures; inelastic light scattering; electron and phonon transport in quantum materials; thermal conductivity and thermal management; ultra-wide-band-gap semiconductors; emerging electronic devices and quantum technologies. Professor Balandin received The MRS Medal from the Materials Research Society and The Pioneer of Nanotechnology Award from the IEEE Society for his graphene, phononics, and nanotechnology research. He is an elected Fellow of MRS, APS, IEEE, OSA, SPIE, and AAAS professional societies, and a Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellow (VBFF). He serves as a Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Applied Physics Letters (APL). Professor Balandin graduated more than 40 Ph.D. students who enjoy successful careers in the U.S. industry, government laboratories, and academia.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
The Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, 2022 – 2026
The Brillouin Medal – International Phononics Society, 2019
“For the discovery of unique phonon properties of graphene, and contributions to the development of graphene thermal management applications.”
The MRS Medal – The Materials Research Society, 2013
“For the discovery of the extraordinary high intrinsic thermal conductivity of graphene, development of an original optothermal measurement technique for investigation of thermal properties of graphene, and theoretical explanation of the unique features of the phonon transport in graphene”
Fellow of MRS – The Materials Research Society, 2014
“For pioneering contributions on the thermal properties of graphene and low-dimensional materials; seminal contributions to the study of quantum confinement effects in nanostructures; and leadership in materials education.”
Fellow of IEEE – The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 2013
“For contributions to the characterization of thermo-electric properties of semiconductor nanostructures and graphene.”
Fellow of APS – The American Physical Society, 2012
“For pioneering studies of phonon transport in graphene and outstanding contributions to the investigation of confined phonons and excitons in semiconductor nanostructures.”
Fellow of IOM3 – The Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining, U.K., 2012
“For pioneering contributions to the investigation of thermal properties of carbon materials such as graphene and its derivatives as well as his development of the phonon engineering concept for nanoscale materials.”
Fellow of IOP – The Institute of Physics, U.K., 2012
“For studies of physical properties of semiconductor nanostructures and graphene.”
The Pioneer of Nanotechnology Award – IEEE, 2011
“For pioneering contributions to nanoscale phonon transport with applications in nanodevices, graphene devices, thermoelectric and thermal management of advanced electronics.”
Fellow of SPIE – The International Society for Optical Engineering, 2011
“For distinguished contributions to the investigation of optical and phonon properties of semiconductor nanostructures.”
Fellow of OSA – The Optical Society of America, 2011
“For outstanding contributions to understanding optical properties of semiconductor nanostructures and pioneering work on opto-thermal metrology of graphene.”
Fellow of AAAS – The American Association for Advancement of Science, 2007
“For distinguished contributions to understanding phonon confinement in nanostructures and investigation of thermal phenomena in semiconductors and devices.”
SELECTED REVIEW ARTICLES
A. A. Balandin, “Thermal properties of graphene and nanostructured carbon materials,” Nature Materials, 10, 569 (2011);
A. A. Balandin, “Low-frequency 1/f noise in graphene devices,” Nature Nanotechnology, 8, 549 (2013);
A. A. Balandin, “Phononics of graphene and related materials,” ACS Nano, 14, 5170 (2020);
F. Kargar, A. A. Balandin, “Advances in Brillouin–Mandelstam light-scattering spectroscopy,” Nature Photonics, 15, 720 (2021).
A. A. Balandin, et al., “One-dimensional van der Waals quantum materials,” Materials Today, 55, 74 (2022).
SELECTED JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
A. A. Balandin and K. L. Wang, “Significant decrease of the lattice thermal conductivity due to phonon confinement in a free-standing semiconductor quantum well,” Phys. Rev. B, 58, 1544 (1998);
A. A. Balandin, S. Ghosh, W. Bao, I. Calizo, D. Teweldebrhan, F. Miao, and C. N. Lau, “Superior thermal conductivity of single-layer graphene,” Nano Lett., 8, 902 (2008);
S. Ghosh, W. Bao, D. L. Nika, S. Subrina, E. P. Pokatilov, C. N. Lau, and A. A. Balandin, “Dimensional crossover of thermal transport in few-layer graphene,” Nature Mater., 9, 555 (2010);
Z. Yan, G. Liu, J. M. Khan, and A. A. Balandin, “Graphene quilts for thermal management of high-power GaN transistors,” Nature Com., 3, 827 (2012);
S. Rumyantsev, G. Liu, M. S. Shur, R. A. Potyrailo, and A. A. Balandin, “Selective gas sensing with a single pristine graphene transistor,” Nano Lett., 12, 2294 (2012);
G. Liu, B. Debnath, T. R. Pope, T. T. Salguero, R. K. Lake, and A. A. Balandin, “A charge-density-wave oscillator based on an integrated tantalum disulfide–boron nitride–graphene device operating at room temperature,” Nature Nano, 11, 845 (2016);
F. Kargar, B. Debnath, J.-P. Kakko, A. Säynätjoki, H. Lipsanen, D. L. Nika, R. K. Lake, and A. A. Balandin, “Direct observation of confined acoustic phonon polarization branches in free-standing semiconductor nanowires,” Nature Com., 7, 13400 (2016);
S. Rumyantsev, M. Balinskiy, F. Kargar, A. Khitun, and A. A. Balandin, “The discrete noise of magnons,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 114, 090601 (2019);
S. Ghosh, H. Surdi, F. Kargar, F. Koeck, S. Rumyantsev, S. Goodnick, R. J. Nemanich, and A. A. Balandin, “Excess noise in high-current diamond diodes”, Appl. Phys. Lett., 120, 062103 (2022);
E. Guzman, F. Kargar, F. Angeles, R. V. Meidanshahi, T. Grotjohn, A. Hardy, M. Muehle, R. B. Wilson, S. M. Goodnick, and A. A. Balandin “Effects of boron doping on the bulk and surface acoustic phonons in single-crystal diamond”, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 14, 37, 42223 (2022);
Z. Barani, T. Geremew, M. Stokey, N. Sesing, M. Taheri, M. J. Hilfiker, F. Kargar, M. Schubert, T. T. Salguero, and A. A. Balandin, “Quantum composites with charge-density-wave fillers”, Adv. Mater., 2209708 (2023);
J. Teeter, N. Y. Kim, T. Debnath, N. Sesing, T. Geremew, D. Wright, M. Chi, A. Z. Stieg, J. Miao, R. K. Lake, T. T. Salguero, and A. A. Balandin “Achieving the 1D atomic chain limit in Van der Waals crystals” Adv. Mater, 2409898 (2024).