Every Atom Matters: Connecting atomic-scale heterogeneity to function in Oxide and Nitride Semiconductors
The properties of emerging oxide and nitride semiconductors are increasingly governed by nanoscale heterogeneity, including dopants, point defects, local chemical ordering, interfaces, and structural transformations that are often difficult to resolve using conventional ensemble-averaged characterization. Establishing how these local features collectively govern macroscopic electronic and functional response is therefore a critical challenge for the predictive design of next-generation semiconductor materials. Our research addresses this challenge by integrating atom probe tomography (APT) with complementary microscopy, property measurements, and data-driven analysis to establish quantitative structure- chemistry-property relationships across multiple length scales. APT provides three-dimensional chemical information with near-atomic-scale resolution, enabling direct interrogation of nanoscale compositional fluctuations, dopant-defect interactions, chemical ordering, and interface chemistry that can ultimately control material behavior.
In this talk, I will highlight recent examples from ultra-wide-bandgap oxide and nitride semiconductors illustrating how atomic-scale chemical and structural heterogeneity influences phase stability, electronic behavior, and emerging functional properties. I will also discuss how machine learning and statistical approaches can transform increasingly complex microscopy datasets into quantitative materials descriptors and accelerate the identification of governing structure-property relationships. Together, these efforts provide a pathway from observing nanoscale heterogeneity to identifying the material signatures that can guide synthesis, theory, and ultimately the design of semiconductor materials with targeted functionality.
Bio: Baishakhi Mazumder is an associate professor in the Department of Materials Design and Innovation at the University at Buffalo, with an adjunct appointment in electrical engineering. She received her Ph.D. in physics and materials science from Université de Rouen, France. Prior to joining the University at Buffalo, she was a senior materials scientist at Intel Corporation, a research associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on understanding and controlling processing-structure- chemistry-property relationships in advanced electronic materials, with particular emphasis on wide- and ultra-wide-bandgap oxide and nitride semiconductors, oxide electronics, and quantum materials. Her group integrates atom probe tomography and complementary advanced microscopy with data-driven approaches to resolve nanoscale chemical and structural heterogeneity and establish its connection to functional material behavior. The overarching goal of her research is to translate atomic-scale insights into principles for the design and engineering of materials with targeted functionality. Mazumder is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award and serves as an associate editor of APL Materials.