LABORATORY FOR STUDIES OF NANOSTRUCTURES AND NANOMATERIALS
Due to their unique physical properties and huge application potential, nanostructures and nanomaterials are attracting the attention of the international scientific community. They are already at the heart of the development of modern science and engineering. A. Alikhanyan National ScienceLaboratory is actively developing its infrastructure and facilities for research in the field of nanotechnologies.
One of the most important conditions necessary for studies of nanostructures and nanomaterials is the laboratory environment. A class 1000 (ISO 6) cleanroom laboratory fully sponsored by ARPA (Analysis Research & Planning for Armenia) is built to conduct research in very important scientific fields such as nanotechnologies, material science, sensor engineering and modern solar cells. The cleanroom is the important part of laboratory of Nanostructures and Nanomaterials Research. The Nanostructures and Nanomaterials Research Laboratory is equipped with materials synthesis devices such as a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system and a magnetron sputtering vacuum system. AANL also develops material characterization technologies such as Fast-Fourier transform infrared spectrometer.
Under the management of Narek Margaryan, graphene research is being carried out in the laboratyory. The research refers to synthesis, investigation and application of graphene with various number and stacking of layers. The research is not limited by graphene and related carbon nanostructures. The laboratory also studies various nanomaterials for modern sensors and solar cells.
Based on these studies, the following scientific projects have already been launched at AANL:
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Graphene based films with tunable infrared absorption for thermal camouflage,
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SAW sensors based on Graphene/LiNbO3 hybrid structures,
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Graphene channel field effect transistor for terahertz detectors,
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Perovskite solar cells with graphene HTL.
The group nanostructure and nanomaterial studies has collaboration with world-class institutions, such as Optical Materials, Photonics and Systems Laboratory, CentraleSupélec, University of Paris-Saclay, France, University of Lorraine, Optical Materials, Photonics and Systems Laboratory, France.
Students from various universities in Armenia are actively involved in nanotechnology research at AANL. They also participate in internship programs of AANL. Moreover, the AANL hosts young researchers from Armenian diaspora. The laboratory for the study of nanostructures and nanomaterials plans to become a platform for bringing together the intellectual potential of young Armenian scientists from all over the world.
