Sefaattin Tongay

Sefaattin Tongay is an American materials scientist and engineer, currently Professor of Materials Science at Arizona State University and associate editor at American Institute of Physics (AIP) Applied Physics Reviews journal. He is internationally recognized for the discovery of graphene/semiconductor junctions, graphene solar cells, 2D anisotropic semiconductors, epitaxial synthesis of quantum materials and Moire excitons in 2D quantum materials.

He studied materials physics at the University of Florida working with Prof. Dr. Arthur F. Hebard and postdoctoral fellowship at the materials science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. His notable and most cited work includes the discovery of exciton complexes in 2D crystals, defects engineering in 2D materials, 2D superlattices, graphene based high-power devices, and graphene solar cells. He is known for establishing the current transport at these two-dimensional interfaces and the discovery of new class of 2D anisotropic semiconductor, Rhenium disulfide (ReS2) . Other seminal discoveries and contributions to the field include the defects engineering in 2D quantum materials, 2D alloying, van der Waals epitaxy growth of quantum materials, 2D anisotropic materials, the discovery of Moire excitons in 2Ds, band alignment models in 2D heterojunctions, the discovery of quintons, 2D phase change alloys, the discovery of bright/dark excitons, and the engineering of 2D anisotropic materials.

Google scholar statistics has identified him as one of the top 10 researchers in the world in the area of quantum materials and top 50 in two-dimensional materials. His work received a number of prestigious awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers by the United States president Donald Trump, National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World award. More recently, his work has seen him identified as one of the most influential researchersover the past decade by Clarivate Analytics and Web of Science.

• 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) awards
• 2019 Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World – Academic Leadership and Accomplishment – Turkey
• 2019 Highly Cited Researchers of 2019 by Web of Science and Clarivate Analytics
• 2019 Associate Editor at Applied Physics Reviews
• 2016 National Science Foundation CAREER Awards
• 2016 Top Engineering Faculty Teaching Award by Arizona State University
• 2016 The Scientist of the Year Award by Turkish Science Heroes Association