Ming Huang

Developing an effective method to precisely control the number of graphene layers and achieve the desired stacking order (twist angle) is a globally significant challenge and a key focus of research in the field of graphene. To address the aforementioned challenges, Ming Huang has conducted systematic research focused on single-crystal 2D carbon materials.

Ming Huang presented a new strategy called “contact-free annealing” for creating colossal single-crystal metal foils. The method relies on hanging and heating commercially available, inexpensive, cold-rolled metal foils. By further electroplating and annealing, he obtained single-crystal Cu/Ni(111) alloy foils and created much larger and much cheaper single-crystal metal and alloy foils.

Huang also produced large-area fold-free single-crystal graphene film which allows for the straightforward fabrication of integrated high-performance devices oriented in any direction over the entire graphene film.

In addition, Huang used single crystal Cu/Ni(111) foil with desired Ni concentrations to achieve the first growth of high coverage ABA-stacked trilayer graphene over a large area and the best quality obtained for AB-stacked bilayer graphene so far. This work provides materials for the fabrication of graphene devices with novel functions that have not yet been realized.

Huang’s research not only solved the scientific research problem of large-area preparation of inexpensive single-crystal metal foils, but also provided new ideas for the large-scale synthesis of single-crystal graphene and other two-dimensional materials. He also opens the next door to test the electronic, mechanical, and optical properties of 2D diamane and delve into its potential applications in nanoelectronics.

In the future, Huang plans to continue to expand the application of single-crystal 2D carbon materials in electronics, optoelectronics and sensing, and lead the development of 2D materials science.