Alexander A. Balandin

Alexander A. Balandin is an electrical engineer and materials scientist known for his studies of phonons and excitons in nanostructures, experimental and theoretical investigation of thermal properties of graphene, electronic 1/f noise in novel materials and devices as well as for his works on practical applications of semiconductor nanostructures and graphene in electronics, optoelectronics and energy conversion.

Alexander A. Balandin received his BS (1989) and MS (1991) degrees Summa Cum Laude in Applied Physics and Mathematics from the Moscow Institute of Physics & Technology (MIPT), Russia. He received his second MS (1995) and PhD (1996) degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, USA. From 1997 to 1999, he worked as Research Engineer in the Device Research Laboratory at the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA). In 1999 he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California – Riverside (UCR), where he is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Founding Chair of Materials Science and Engineering (MS&E). He is Director of the Nano-Device Laboratory (NDL), which he organized in 2000. In 2005, he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge, U.K. As the Founding Chair of the interdisciplinary MS&E program, he led the UCR efforts for introducing BS, MS and PhD degrees in MS&E.

Professor Balandin’s research interests are in the area of advanced materials, nanostructures and nanodevices for electronics, optoelectronics and renewable energy conversion. He conducts both experimental and theoretical research. Balandin and coworkers were among the pioneers of the field of phonon engineering. In 1998, he published an influential paper on the effects of phonon spatial confinement on thermal conductivity of nanostructures (where the term “phonon engineering” likely appeared for the first time in a journal publication). Phonon engineering finds application in thermoelectric energy conversion and thermal management of advanced electronics. He has contributed to development of GaN technology by investigating heat conduction in GaN films and studying 1/f noise in GaN devices. He advanced ZnO technology by studying excitonic effects, confined phonon and optical properties of wurtzite nanostructures. In 2008, Balandin’s group authored a highly cited paper on the first measurement of thermal conductivity of suspended graphene. In order to perform the first measurement of thermal properties of graphene, Balandin invented a new optothermal experiment technique based on Raman spectroscopy. He and his coworkers explained theoretically why the intrinsic thermal conductivity of graphene can be higher than that of bulk graphite, and demonstrated experimentally the evolution of heat conduction when the system dimensionality changes from 2D (graphene) to 3D (graphite). Balandin’s group advanced the graphene field by demonstrating the low-noise top-gate graphene transistor and graphene triple-mode amplifier and phase detector. The layman description of the unusual thermal properties of graphene can be found in IEEE Spectrum feature article. Balandin's group has also reported the first "graphene-like" mechanical exfoliation of atomically thin films of topological insulators and other materials. Balandin group’s research achievements were highlighted in Nature, Nature Nanotechnology, IEEE Spectrum, MIT Technology Review, Materials Today, Physics World, nationally syndicated radio programs and other media worldwide.

Balandin received the following honors and awards:

• Fellow, The American Physical Society (APS)
• IEEE Pioneer Award in Nanotechnology
• Fellow, The Institute of Physics, U.K. (IOP)
• Fellow, The Optical Society of America
• Fellow, The International Society for Optical Engineering
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award
• Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award
• University of California Regents Award
• The Merrill Lynch Innovation Award for “commercially valuable engineering research”
• US Civil Research and Development FoundationUS Civil Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) Young Investigator Award
• Eta Kappa Nu Engineering Honor Society

NDL research group conducts theoretical and experimental research on nanostructures and novel materials and their applications in electronics, optoelectronics and renewable energy conversion.