Colloquium – Charles Black

Charles (Chuck) Black, Brookhaven National Laboratory

Me and My Research

In my 30+ science career so far, I have at diEerent times carried out research on superconductivity in nanoscale materials; nanomaterials for solar devices; self-assembly based, high-resolution patterning for semiconductor microelectronics; ferroelectric nonvolatile memories; nanocrystal-based materials and devices; and low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. I have worked in a university lab, an industry lab, and for the last 15+ years at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

My physics career started right here at Vanderbilt, where I was an undergraduate in the late 1980s.

In this talk, I will give snapshots of the research projects I am most proud of, and share some lessons I have learned along the way. I will highlight many of the outstanding colleagues I have encountered and worked with in my career so far, to emphasize what I consider the most important lesson of all — that working together with others on exciting problems is by far the most rewarding part of a career in science.

My talk will be accessible and, I hope, interesting for everyone. I especially hope students and postdocs will attend.

BIOGRAPHY
I am the director of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, where I am also a senior scientist. The CFN is a national scientific user facility, which we operate for the U.S. Department of Energy as a resource for the worldwide scientific community. Each year, the CFN supports the science of nearly 700 researchers from around the world — from universities, industry, and national laboratories. I am also currently leading a major DOE project to modernize the U.S. nanoscience infrastructure by developing and installing new instrumentation across six national laboratories in the DOE complex.

Prior to becoming director, I was group leader for electronic nanomaterials in the CFN, responsible for managing the staff and setting group research directions for
nanostructured electronic materials for clean energy. From 1996 to 2006, I was a research staff member at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, where my collaborators and I pioneered using polymer self-assembly for high-resolution patterning in semiconductor electronics.

In my 30+ year career so far, I have also at different times carried out research on: superconductivity of nanoscale materials; nanomaterials for solar devices; nanocrystalbased materials and devices; low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy; and ferroelectric nonvolatile memories.

Oct 31, 2024 @ 4:10 PM (CDT) in Featheringill 134; light refreshments available at 3:50 PM (CDT).

Host: S Hutson