Our university received funds for the purchase of an innovative platform for the synthesis of 2D materials and their heterostructures, which will be used in nanoelectronics. The funding was granted by the Ministry of Education and Science as part of the investment for scientific activity.

The equipment will create a unique platform on a European scale for testing new two-dimensional materials and related applications. What’s more, the system (partly designed by the team from PW) may become the foundation for a new technology for the future of electronics in Poland. The investment will allow for the development and deepening of current research on the world’s state-of-the-art technology for the production of materials with a two-dimensional structure.

Researchers from PW’s Faculty of Physics, who are very experienced in working with 2D materials and producing electronic nanodevices, will ensure that the capabilities of modern equipment are fully used. The development of this technology at the University of Technology was initiated by a team consisting of Prof. Mariusz Zdrojek, Dr Włodzimierz Strupiński, Dr Iwona Pasternak and Dr Jakub Sitek.

– Our team has vast experience in the technology related to the growth of two-dimensional materials, as has been documented by many publications in journals such as Nano Letters, Nanoscale, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces and 2D Materials, says Dr Jakub Sitek. – Our know-how consists of patents, including a newly filed international patent for the technology relating to the selective production of stacks of 2D materials known as heterostructures. This, combined with the huge research potential of the team, allows us to think about a permanent remodelling of the European, and perhaps even the global scene of two-dimensional material technology. We can already see the first harbingers of this. As part of a large European project, we are just beginning long-term cooperation with companies and research centres from France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain.

The new equipment will become a part of the technology hub that is currently being developed at the Warsaw University of Technology and the Centre for Advanced Materials and Technologies CEZAMAT. Thanks to government funds from the Nauka dla Społeczeństwa [Science for Society] programme and a grant from the European Commission under the EDIH programme, the hub will provide an excellent space for developing cooperation with Poland’s most cutting-edge technology companies.

– The investment is a perfect example of seeking synergy in the joint use of both the equipment and the potential of various research teams at the Warsaw University of Technology, says Mariusz Wielec, head of CEZAMAT.

The platform will help in the development of scientific and research cooperation with existing partners and the acquisition of new ones, as well as in the education of specialists.

The Innovative platform for the synthesis of 2D materials and their heterostructures for next-generation electronics project was co-financed from the state budget as part of the investment of the Ministry of Education and Science for scientific activity. Project value: PLN 9.3 million.