Jerzy (Jurek) Sadowski

Expertise | Research | Education | Appointments | Publications | Highlights | Video

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Expertise

• Low-Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM)
• X-ray Photoemission Electron Microscopy (XPEEM)
• Surface and interface science, thin film growth, surface morphology and crystallinity, surface chemistry and electronic structure, catalytic properties
• 2D van der Waals materials, thin films and heterostructures
• Elemental 2D materials – graphene and beyond
   

Research Activities

Our research focuses on utilizing the advanced spectro-microscopy capabilities available at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) and the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) to investigate the structural, electronic, chemical, and magnetic properties of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals materials, including graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, as well as their heterostructures. By combining complementary microscopy and spectroscopy techniques with nanoscale spatial resolution, we aim to elucidate the relationships between atomic structure, electronic band structure, chemical composition, and magnetic behavior. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the role of defects, interfaces, strain, stacking order, and moiré superlattices in determining the emergent properties of these materials. These studies provide fundamental insights into low-dimensional quantum materials and support the development of next-generation electronic, spintronic, optoelectronic, and quantum information technologies.

Education

• Nicolas Copernicus University, Torun, Poland, 1993, M.Sc. Physics 

• Institute of Electron Technology, Warsaw, Poland, 1999, Ph.D. Physics

Professional Appointments

2008 – present Staff Scientist, Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory 

2006 – 2008 Associate Professor, Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan 

2001 – 2006 Research Associate, Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan 

1999 – 2001 Center of Excellence (CoE) Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan 

1993 – 1999 Research Assistant, Institute of Vacuum Technology, Warsaw, Poland 

Selected Publications

• Patel SB, Chen X, Wu D, et al (2025) Thermally driven surface phase separation in intermetallic alloys. Nature Communications 17:. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67397-x
• Tyson TA, Amarasinghe S, Abeykoon AMM, et al (2025) Surface magnetism in Fe3GeTe2 van der Waals ferromagnet. 2D Materials 12:025021. https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1583/adb43f
• Patel SB, Li C, Al-Mahboob A, et al (2025) Effects of Temperature Fluctuations on Surface Mobility of Atomic Steps and Oxidation Dynamics in High-Temperature Alloys. Journal of the American Chemical Society 147:1656–1666. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c12155
• Yuan Y, Kotiuga M, Park TJ, et al (2024) Hydrogen-induced tunable remanent polarization in a perovskite nickelate. Nature Communications 15:. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49213-0
• Nair S, Yang Z, Lee D, et al (2023) Engineering metal oxidation using epitaxial strain. Nature Nanotechnology 18:1005–1011. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-023-01397-0
• Wu R, Eltinge S, Drozdov IK, et al (2022) Micrometre-scale single-crystalline borophene on a square-lattice Cu(100) surface. Nature Chemistry 14:377–383. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-021-00879-9
• Dai Z, Gao Z, Pershoguba SS, Tiwale N, Subramanian A, Zhang Q, Eads C, Tenney SA, Osgood RM, Nam C-Y, Zang J, Johnson ATC, Sadowski JT (2021) Quantum-Well Bound States in Graphene Heterostructure Interfaces. Physical Review Letters. doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.127.086805
• Li J, Green RJ, Zhang Z, Sutarto R, Sadowski JT, Zhu Z, Zhang G, Zhou D, Sun Y, He F, Ramanathan S, Comin R (2021) Sudden Collapse of Magnetic Order in Oxygen-Deficient Nickelate Films. Physical Review Letters. doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.126.187602
• Dai Z, Yu J-X, Zhou B, A Tenney S, Lampen-Kelley P, Yan J, Mandrus D, A Henriksen E, Zang J, Pohl K, Sadowski JT (2020) Crystal structure reconstruction in the surface monolayer of the quantum spin liquid candidate α-RuCl3. 2D Materials 7:035004. doi: 10.1088/2053-1583/ab7e0e
• Shahsafi A, Roney P, Zhou Y, Zhang Z, Xiao Y, Wan C, Wambold R, Salman J, Yu Z, Li J, Sadowski JT, Comin R, Ramanathan S, Kats MA (2019) Temperature-independent thermal radiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116:26402–26406. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1911244116
• Li J, Pelliciari J, Mazzoli C, Catalano S, Simmons F, Sadowski JT, Levitan A, Gibert M, Carlson E, Triscone J-M, Wilkins S, Comin R (2019) Scale-invariant magnetic textures in the strongly correlated oxide NdNiO3. Nature Communications. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-12502-0
• Jin W, Vishwanath S, Liu J, Kong L, Lou R, Dai Z, Sadowski JT, Liu X, Lien H-H, Chaney A, Han Y, Cao M, Ma J, Qian T, Wang S, Dobrowolska M, Furdyna J, Muller DA, Pohl K, Ding H, Dadap JI, Xing HG, Osgood RM (2017) Electronic Structure of the Metastable Epitaxial Rock-Salt SnSe {111} Topological Crystalline Insulator. Physical Review X. doi: 10.1103/physrevx.7.041020
• Camilli L, Jørgensen JH, Tersoff J, Stoot AC, Balog R, Cassidy A, Sadowski JT, Bøggild P, Hornekær L (2017) Self-assembly of ordered graphene nanodot arrays. Nature Communications. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00042-4
• Sitaputra W, Stacchiola D, Wishart JF, Wang F, Sadowski JT (2017) In Situ Probing of Ion Ordering at an Electrified Ionic Liquid/Au Interface. Advanced Materials 29:1606357. doi: 10.1002/adma.201606357

Research Highlights

Brookhaven Lab and Euclid Techlabs to Develop Coated Cathodes for Electron-Ion Collider

• BNL press release: https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=218851

Imaging the Chemical Fingerprints of Molecules

• BNL press release: https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=219146

Layered Graphene with a Twist Displays Unique Quantum Confinement in 2-D

• BNL press release: https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=119041

Physicists Find a Novel Way to Switch Antiferromagnetism On and Off

• BNL press release: https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=118847

Temperature-Independent Thermal Radiation

• DOE BES research highlight: https://www.energy.gov/science/bes/articles/quantum-materials-cloak-thermal-radiation
• CFN research highlight: https://www.bnl.gov/cfn/research/highlights/news.php?a=217092
• BNL press release: https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=216967

 Scale-invariant Magnetic Textures in the Strongly Correlated Oxide NdNiO₃

• BNL press release: https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=216852

 Excitation using the Fold: Tailored Optical Excitation in Graphene by Spatially Periodic Intercalants

• CFN research highlight: https://www.bnl.gov/cfn/research/highlights/news.php?a=216761

 In-Situ Probing of Ion Ordering at Electrified Ionic Liquid/Au Interface

• CFN research highlight: https://www.bnl.gov/cfn/research/highlights/news.php?a=212324
• BNL press release: https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=112162

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