Dr. Aaron Franklin received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 2008 and then spent six years on the research staff at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY.  His work at IBM focused on low-dimensional nanoelectronics with specific emphasis on carbon nanotube (CNT) transistors, including device scaling, transport studies, and diverse integration approaches.  While at IBM, Dr. Franklin was awarded an Outstanding Technical Achievement recognition for his work on nanoscale CNT transistors. He was also involved in many other projects with applications including photovoltaics, thin-film transistors, and supercapacitors.  Dr. Franklin joined the Duke faculty in 2014.

Research in the Franklin group is focused on improving the performance and functionality of nanomaterial-enabled electronic devices.  This includes high-performance devices from low-dimensional materials, such as 2D semiconductors, 1D carbon nanotubes, and nanowires. Also included is the low-cost realm of printed electronics, which benefits from the incorporation of nanomaterials to enhance electrical transport over large printed features, along with other application-specific advantages. The primary drive of the Franklin group's research is to improve performance of, and expand applications for, electronic devices, including those with more custom form factors and/or functionality (e.g., flexibility, transparency, biocompatibility, recyclability).  A growing thrust in the lab is the application of ultrasensitive, cheaply processed nanomaterials to electronic biosensing applications.  There is an increasing variety of new electronics applications that nanomaterials are uniquely capable of enabling -- the Franklin group works to make such applications possible.