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A doctoral student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering was selected for the prestigious Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program, an initiative that supports scholars who are addressing critical energy challenges in the United States.
John Hoerauf, advised by Gary Rubloff, distinguished university professor and Minta Martin professor of engineering, was selected in a cohort of 79 doctoral students from 56 universities to participate in a program that prepares doctoral candidates to advance the Office of Science’s mission of transforming our understanding of nature and advancing the energy, economic, and national security of the U.S.
“I share this recognition and honor with the people who have supported me along the way, especially my friends, family, and my research group who all foster a culture of communication, growth, and outstanding science,” said Hoerauf.
As part of this program, participants receive world-class training and access to state-of-the-art facilities, expertise, and resources at DOE's national laboratories. Hoerauf will work with A. Alec Talin, a senior scientist in the Chemistry, Combustion and Materials Science Department at Sandia National Laboratories, who is credited as one of the founders of the ion-gated transistor, a computer processing unit that stores information as analog data for “in-memory computing.” Hoerauf says the experience will further his research in a way that he “couldn't have otherwise.”
Hoerauf’s doctoral research, now supported by the SCGSR program, investigates the ion-gated transistor, which boasts 8 times more storage capacity per processing unit and operates with one million times more energy efficiency compared to conventional counterparts for certain applications such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Hoerauf will address a gap in knowledge surrounding a key component called the electrolyte.
“My contribution to this application space is understanding the role of the electrolyte in these devices, which may greatly boost the viability of this new type of transistor,” he said.
More specifically, he will develop a unique electrolyte that leverages the properties of a material known as “zirconium phosphate,” using a technique called “atomic layer deposition” which is capable of laying down a single layer of atoms at a time, giving Hoerauf atomic-level control of the electrolyte’s composition. He will then implement this finely tuned electrolyte into an ion-gated transistor, which will reveal insights into how the electrolyte affects the transistor’s performance.
His research project will address one of the critical energy challenges at national and international scales, among those in artificial intelligence, quantum information science, microelectronics, fusion energy sciences, and accelerator science. Since 2014, the SCGSR program has provided about 1,300 U.S. graduate awardees from 170 universities in 48 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico with supplemental funds to conduct part of their thesis research at DOE national laboratories in collaboration with DOE national laboratory scientists.
May 29, 2025
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