John Rogers

Professor John A. Rogers obtained BA and BS degrees in chemistry and in physics from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1989.  From MIT, he received SM degrees in physics and in chemistry in 1992 and the PhD degree in physical chemistry in 1995.  From 1995 to 1997, Rogers was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard University Society of Fellows.  During this time he also served as a Director for Active Impulse Systems, a company based on his PhD research that he co-founded in 1995 and which was acquired by a large company in 1998.  He joined Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff in the Condensed Matter Physics Research Department in 1997, and served as Director of this department from 2000-2002.  He currently holds a primary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and is affiliated with the Beckman Institute, the Materials Research Laboratory as well as the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Science and Engineering and Chemistry. 

Rogers' research includes fundamental and applied aspects of nano and molecular scale fabrication as well as materials and patterning techniques for unusual format electronics and photonic systems.  He has published >200 papers, and is co-inventor on >70 patents and patent applications, more than 40 of which are licensed or in active use by large companies (e.g. Lucent Technologies) and startups (e.g. Active Impulse Systems and Semprius). 

His research has been recognized with many awards including, most recently the Xerox Distinguished Lecturer Award (2006) and the Dorn Lectureship in Materials Science at Northwestern University (2007), the Daniel Drucker Eminent Faculty Award from the University of Illinois (2007) the Leo Hendrick Baekeland Award, from the American Chemical Society (2007).  His teaching has been recognized many times through selection to the UIUC Unofficial List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by Their Students.  Rogers has been named a Fellow of the American Physical Society (2006), an inaugural Fellow of the Materials Research Society (2007), Department of Defense National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow (2009), MacArthur Fellow - John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2009), IEEE Fellow (2010), and Member of the National Academy of Engineering (2011). He serves, or has recently served, on several Editorial Boards, including those for Applied Physics Letters, Journal of Applied Physics and Nano Letters.  He also is Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology, and SPIE Journal of Microlithography, Microfabrication and Microsystems.

We seek to understand and exploit interesting characteristics of 'soft' materials, such as polymers, liquid crystals, and biological tissues as well as hybrid combinations of these materials with unusual classes of inorganics, such as nanoribbons, wires and platelets. Our aim is to control and induce novel electronic and photonic responses in these materials; we also develop new 'soft lithographic' and biomimetic approaches for patterning them and guiding their growth. This work combines fundamental studies with forward-looking engineering efforts in a way that promotes positive feedback between the two. Our current research focuses on soft materials for flexible ‘macroelectronic’ circuits, nanophotonic structures, microfluidic devices, and microelectromechanical systems. These efforts are highly multidisciplinary, and combine expertise from nearly every traditional field of technical study.

Some highlights of our recent (2006-2007) work include the first:

• observation and analysis of buckling mechanics in SWNTs
• quasi-3D plasmonics crystals for biosensing and imaging
• SWNT-based RF analog electronics, including the first all-nanotube transistor radios
• methods for electrohydrodynamic jet printing with sub-micron resolution
• routes to multilayer superstructures of aligned SWNTs

Some highlights of our 2005-2006 work include the first:

• strechable form of single crystal silicon
• GHz flexible transistors on plastic substrates
• single-step two photon 3D nanofabrication technique
• lithographic method with molecular scale (~1 nm) resolution
• printing approach for 3D, heterogeneous integration
• method for growing high density, horizontally aligned SWNTs

Professor Rogers has more than 200 papers in journals including Nature, Science, Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Photonics, Applied Physics Letters, Optics Letters, Annual Reviews of Materials Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Advanced Materials, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Langmuir, Journal of Materials Research and many others. For a complete list, see Rogers research group page.  Several representative papers from 2007/2008 are below:

H.C. Ko, M.P. Stoykovich, J. Song, V. Malyarchuk, W.M. Choi, C.-J. Yu, J.B. Geddes, J. Xiao, S. Wang, Y. Huang and J.A. Rogers, “A Hemispherical Electronic Eye Camera Based on Compressible Silicon Optoelectronics,” Nature 454, 748-753 (2008). (cover feature article)

Q. Cao, H.-S. Kim, N. Pimparkar, J.P. Kulkarni, C. Wang, M. Shim, K. Roy, M.A. Alam and J.A. Rogers, “Medium-Scale Carbon Nanotube Thin-Film Integrated Circuits on Flexible Plastic Substrates,” Nature 454, 495-500 (2008).

A.J. Baca, J.-H. Ahn, Y. Sun, M.A. Meitl, E. Menard, H.-S. Kim, W.M. Choi, D.-H. Kim, Y. Huang and J.A. Rogers, “Semiconductor Wires and Ribbons for High-Performance Flexible Electronics,” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 47, 5524 – 5542 (2008).

M.J. Schultz, X. Zhang, S. Unarunotai, D.-Y. Khang, Q. Cao, C. Wang, C. Lei, S. MacLaren, J.A.N.T. Soares, I. Petrov, J.S. Moore and J.A. Rogers, “Synthesis of Linked Carbon Monolayers: Films, Balloons, Tubes, and Pleated Sheets,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105(21), 7353-7358 (2008).

D.-H. Kim, J.-H. Ahn, W.-M. Choi, H.-S. Kim, T.-H. Kim, J. Song, Y.Y. Huang, L. Zhuangjian, L. Chun and J.A. Rogers, “ Stretchable and Foldable Silicon Integrated Circuits,” Science 320, 507-511 (2008).

M.E. Stewart, C.R. Anderton, L.B. Thompson, J. Maria, S.K. Gray, J.A. Rogers and R.G. Nuzzo, “Nanostructured Plasmonic Sensors,” Chemical Reviews 108, 494-521 (2008).

C. Kocabas, H.-S. Kim, T. Banks, J.A. Rogers, A.A. Pesetski, J.E. Baumgardner, S. V. Krishnaswamy and H. Zhang, “Radio Frequency Analog Electronics Based on Carbon Nanotube Transistors,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105(5), 1405-1409 (2008).

D.-Y. Khang, J. Xiao, C. Kocabas, S. MacLaren, T. Banks, H. Jiang, Y.Y. Huang, and J.A. Rogers, “Molecular Scale Buckling Mechanics in Individual Aligned Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes on Elastomeric Substrates,” Nano Letters 8(1), 124-130 (2008).

C. Kocabas, S.J. Kang, T. Ozel, M. Shim and J.A. Rogers, “Improved Synthesis of Aligned Arrays of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Their Implementation in Thin Film Type Transistors,” Journal of Physical Chemistry C 111(48), 17879-17886 (2007).

J.-U. Park, M. Hardy, S.J. Kang, K. Barton, K. Adair, D.K. Mukhopadhyay, C.Y. Lee, M.S. Strano, J.G. Georgiadis, P.M. Ferreira and J.A. Rogers, “High-Resolution Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing,” Nature Materials 6, 782-789 (2007). (cover feature article)

S.J. Kang, C. Kocabas, T. Ozel, M. Shim, N. Pimparkar, M.A. Alam, S.V. Rotkin and J.A. Rogers, “High-performance electronics using dense, perfectly aligned arrays of single-walled carbon nanotubes,” Nature Nanotechnology 2, 230-236 (2007). (cover feature article)

E. Menard, J. Park, S. Jeon, D. Shir, Y. Nam, M. Meitl and J.A. Rogers,  “Micro and Nanopatterning Techniques for Organic Electronic and Optoelectronic Systems,” Chemical Reviews 107, 1117-1160 (2007).

Y. Sun and J.A. Rogers, “Inorganic Semiconductors for Flexible Electronics,” Advanced Materials 19, 1897-1916 (2007).

Examples of Recent Invited Talks

“Carbon Nanotubes for Thin Film Electronics,” presented at the Spring Meeting of the Materials Research Society, in San Francisco, CA on March 26, 2008.

“Wavy Nanomaterials for Stretchable Electronics,” presented at Yale University, on February 20, 2008.

“Carbon Nanomaterials for Thin Film Electronics,” presented as the Nanocenter Seminar at Columbia University, in New York, NY on October 3, 2007.

“Dense, Perfectly Aligned Arrays of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes for High Performance Transistors,” presented at the Device Research Conference, in South Bend, IN on June 19, 2007.

“3D and Molecular Scale Fabrication,” presented at a Symposium Honoring the 35th Anniversary of the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility Meeting, at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY on June 14, 2007.

Selected Recent Press

“The shape of things to come,” National Science Foundation Press Release and Videos, August, 2008.

“This Camera Is Like an Eye,” US News and World Report, August 17, 2008.

“How to make an electronic eye, step one: the retina,” Scientific American, August 6, 2008.

“Bendable Nanotube Circuits,” Technology Review, July 2008.

“Stretchable Silicon,” Popular Mechanics, June 2008.

“Nanomembranes Get Tough,” Chemistry World, June 2008.

“Bendy Electronics,” Nature, April 2008.

“Silicon Circuits that Fold and Stretch,” Chemical and Engineering News, March 31 2008.

“Silicon Chips Stretch Into Shape,” BBC News, March 2008.

“Northrop Grumman and University of Illinois Researchers Make History With All-Carbon Nanotube Radio,” CNN Money.com, January 2008.

For more stories see Rogers research group page.

• Elected a Member of the National Academy of Engineering (2011)
• Selected as a Fellow of IEEE (2010)
• Selected to receive the MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" (2009)
• Selected as a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow by the U.S. Department of Defense (2009)
• Selected as the first holder of the Lee J. Flory - Founder Chair of Engineering Innovation, University of Illinois (2008)
• Elected to the inaugural class of Fellow of the Materials Research Society, "For unique contributions, ranging from the synthesis and characterization of novel materials, to development of unconventional fabrication strategies, to engineering design and testing of electronic devices in commercially realistic applications." (2008)
• Elected as Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois (2007)
• Selected to receive the Zhongguancun Forum from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2007)
• Selected for the Baekeland Award of the American Chemical Society, which is conferred biennially upon an American chemist under 40 years of age in recognition of accomplishments in pure or industrial chemistry (2007)
• Selected for the Daniel Drucker Eminent Faculty Award, the highest award bestowed on a member of the faculty in the University of Illinois College of Engineering for achievement in research and teaching (2007)
• Named as the Dorn Lecturer at Northwestern University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (2007)
• Elected as Fellow of the American Physical Society, "For contributions to the fields of flexible electronics, optical fiber devices, nanolithography and picosecond ultrasonics" (2006)
• Selected for one of the "10 Coolest Technologies That You’ve Never Heard Of," for stretchable silicon, by PC Magazine (2006)
• Selected as one of the top 15 Innovators in Nanotechnology for 2005, by Nanotech Briefs, NASA Technology Briefs (2006)
• Selected as a 2006 Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin (2006)
• Selected as the 2006 Xerox Distinguished Lecturer (2006)
• Selected for one of "10 Technologies that Will Change the World" by MIT’s Technology Review magazine, for stretchable silicon (2006)
• Selected as One of the Top 50 Research Leaders for 2005 by Scientific American (2005)
• Selected as Runner-Up (one of three) for Small Times Magazine’s Small Tech Researcher of the Year Award (2004)
• Selected for one of "10 Technologies that Will Change the World" by MIT’s
  Technology Review magazine, for microfluidic photonic systems (2004)
• Excellence in Research Award of the Year from Frost and Sullivan for microfluidic photonic systems (2003)
• Circle of Excellence Award from Photonics Spectra Magazine for the RightwaveTM tunable dispersion compensator (2003)
• OFC Attendee’s Choice Award from Lightwave Magazine for the RightwaveTM
  tunable dispersion compensator (2002)
• American Chemical Society Award for Team Innovation: Printed Plastic Electronics and Electronic Paper (2002)
• Excellence in Technical Innovation from Laser Focus World Magazine for tunable microfluidic optical fiber (2002)
• R&D100 Innovation Award from R&D Magazine for the RightwaveTM tunable
  dispersion compensator (2002)
• Robert B. Woodward Scholar, Harvard University (2001)
• R&D Magazine’s Editor’s Choice for the "Best of the Best" new technology for 2001: Printed Plastic Display Circuits (2001)
• R&D100 Innovation Award from R&D Magazine: Printed Plastic Display Circuits (2001)
• Selected by MIT’s Technology Review magazine as one of the top 100 young
  innovators for the 21st century (1999)
• Elected to Junior Fellow of the Harvard University Society of Fellows (1995-1997)