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Elton Graugnard

Research Assistant Professor

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Elton received a Ph.D. in Physics from Purdue University, where he researched the field emission and electronic conductance of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) in Ron Reifenberger’s group. He continued his studies as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he worked on ultra-high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) of semiconductor surfaces and studied the etching of semiconductors with halogens, atom by atom!

As a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech and later as an assistant professor of physics at Rollins College, Elton was involved in photonics crystals and thin film research in collaboration with Chris Summer’s Nanophotonics research group. He developed techniques to fabricate and manipulate the optical properties of 2D and 3D photonic crystals using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Using ALD systems that Elton designed and built, the group developed several successful ALD protocols to grow thin films and multi-layers of titanium dioxide (TiO₂), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) and gallium phosphide (GaP) within synthetic opals and 2D slab waveguides. This allowed them to tune and enhance the optical properties of these structures for specific applications.

Recent Publications

• E. Graugnard, O.M. Roche, S.N. Dunham, J.S. King, D.N. Sharp, R.J. Denning, A.J. Turberfield, C.J. Summers, "Replicated photonic crystals by atomic layer deposition within holographically defined polymer templates," Applied Physics Letters 94 263109 (2009).
• D.P. Gaillot, E. Graugnard, J. Blair, C.J. Summers, "Dispersion control in two-dimensional superlattice photonic crystal waveguides by atomic layer deposition," Applied Physics Letters 91 181123 (2007).
• E. Graugnard, S.N. Dunham, J.S. King, D. Lorang, S. Jain, C.J. Summers, "Enhanced tunable Bragg diffraction in large-pore inverse opals using dual-frequency liquid crystal," Applied Physics Letters 91 111101 (2007).
• D.P. Gaillot, E. Graugnard, J.S. King, C.J. Summers, "Tunable Bragg peak response in liquid crystal infiltrated photonic crystals," Journal of the Optical Society of America B 24 211102 (2007).
• E. Graugnard, V. Chawla, D. Lorang, C.J. Summers, "High filling fraction gallium phosphide inverse opals by atomic layer deposition," Applied Physics Letters 89 211102 (2006).
• E. Graugnard, D.P. Gaillot, S.N. Dunham, C.J. Summers, "Tuning dispersion in 2D photonic crystals with atomic layer deposition," Applied Physics Letters 89 181108 (2006).
• E. Graugnard, J.S. King, D.P. Gaillot, C.J. Summers, "Sacrificial-layer atomic layer deposition for fabrication of non-close-packed inverse-opal photonic crystals," Advanced Functional Materials 16 1187 (2006).

As an inveterate teacher, Elton loves explaining simple and complicated physics concepts to his family, friends, and students. The physicists he most admires are Michael Faraday and Lisa Meitner. In his free time, Elton enjoys running, cycling, playing the bass (badly), and reading about philosophy and astronomy.