About
I am an Assistant Professor and the director of the Advanced Nanoelectronics & Nanostructures Laboratory (ANNLab) in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Arizona, with courtesy appointments in the Department of Physics and the School of Electrical, Computing, and Software Engineering. We design, build, and characterize nanoelectronic devices based on low-dimensional semiconductors and quantum materials, including atomically precise 1D graphene nanoribbons and 2D materials, for computing and sensing. We also develop topological surface acoustic wave devices for wireless communication.
Honors
- Craig M. Berge Faculty Fellow
- Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing Fellow
- Peterson Family Outstanding Early Career Faculty
- Excellence at the Student Interface Award
Profile
Recent News
October 2026I was featured on Arizona Science (AZPM, NPR 89.1) in the episode “Exploring Advanced Nanoelectronics (opens in a new tab).”
October 2026Our team received a 3-year Office of Naval Research (ONR) grant for nanoelectronics research, with me as lead investigator.
October 2026I lead the University of Arizona part of the NAU-led Intel Scholarship & Fellowship Program (opens in a new tab), supporting six master’s scholars.
September 2026Our lab joined the University of Arizona REPLIQA (opens in a new tab) team with Google Quantum AI (opens in a new tab) to develop nanosensors.
Research
Graphene Nanoribbon Sensors
We develop new types of nanosensors built from low-dimensional materials for extreme environments and biological sensing.
Graphene Nanoribbon Transistors
We grow atomically precise graphene nanoribbons, integrate them into transistors, and study their electronic transport and device challenges.
Topological Acoustic Wave Devices
We design and study surface acoustic wave devices, working toward topological acoustics for future advanced wireless communication.
Recent Publications (Full list)
[ACS AMI]Electrical and Structural Response of Nine-Atom-Wide Armchair Graphene Nanoribbon Transistors to Gamma Irradiation (opens in a new tab) PDF of “Electrical and Structural Response of Nine-Atom-Wide Armchair Graphene Nanoribbon Transistors to Gamma Irradiation” (opens in a new tab)
K. Yumigeta, M. Yusufoglu, J. G. Federice, E. T. Hughes, A. M. Degirmenci, J. T. Njardarson, K. Simmons-Potter, B. G. Potter, Z. Mutlu
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2026 Supplementary Front Cover
[Phys. Rev. Applied]Composite Superlattice Radio-Frequency Surface-Acoustic-Wave Devices (opens in a new tab) PDF of “Composite Superlattice Radio-Frequency Surface-Acoustic-Wave Devices” (opens in a new tab)
F. Najmi, H. Yawit, W. Takeda, A. Basu, S. Biswas, Z. Mutlu, P. Lucas, K. Muralidharan, A. Alù, K. Runge, P. A. Deymier
Physical Review Applied, 2026
[Adv. Mater. Interfaces]Scalable Etch-Free Transfer of Low-Dimensional Materials from Metal Films to Diverse Substrates (opens in a new tab) PDF of “Scalable Etch-Free Transfer of Low-Dimensional Materials from Metal Films to Diverse Substrates” (opens in a new tab)
K. Yumigeta, M. Yusufoglu, M. Sarker, R. Raj, F. Daluisio, R. Holloway, H. Yawit, T. Sweepe, J. Battaglia, S. Janssen, A. C. Welch, P. DiPasquale, K. A. Mkhoyan, A. Sinitskii, Z. Mutlu
Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2026
[COPR’25]The Effect of Chalcopyrite Composition on Semiconducting Properties (opens in a new tab) PDF of “The Effect of Chalcopyrite Composition on Semiconducting Properties” (opens in a new tab)
S. Patterson, J. Battaglia, A. Rieffer, Z. Mutlu, A. Wessman, I. Barton
12th International Copper Conference (COPR 2025), Springer, 2025
[COPR’25]The Effect of Chalcopyrite Composition on Semiconducting Properties (opens in a new tab) PDF of “The Effect of Chalcopyrite Composition on Semiconducting Properties” (opens in a new tab)
S. Patterson, J. Battaglia, A. Rieffer, Z. Mutlu, A. Wessman, I. Barton
12th International Copper Conference (COPR 2025), Springer, 2025
[APL]Schottky Barrier Formation and Band Realignment of Rare-Earth Tritelluride Charge Density Wave Material–Semiconductor Interfaces (opens in a new tab) PDF of “Schottky Barrier Formation and Band Realignment of Rare-Earth Tritelluride Charge Density Wave Material–Semiconductor Interfaces” (opens in a new tab)
K. Yumigeta, J. Kopaczek, R. Banerjee, S. T. R. Moosavy, A. Yarra, B. Povilus, H. Ruddick, R. Sailus, M. Kumar, S. Lakhavade, Y. Ou, Z. Mutlu, S. A. Tongay
Applied Physics Letters, 2025
[ACS Nano]Coupling of Nondegenerate Topological Modes in Nitrogen Core-Doped Graphene Nanoribbons (opens in a new tab) PDF of “Coupling of Nondegenerate Topological Modes in Nitrogen Core-Doped Graphene Nanoribbons” (opens in a new tab)
P. H. Jacobse, M. Pizzochero, E. C. H. Wen, G. Borin Barin, X. Li, Z. Mutlu, K. Müllen, E. Kaxiras, M. F. Crommie, F. R. Fischer
ACS Nano, 2025
[ACS Nano]Atomically Precise Graphene Nanoribbon Transistors with Long-Term Stability and Reliability (opens in a new tab) PDF of “Atomically Precise Graphene Nanoribbon Transistors with Long-Term Stability and Reliability” (opens in a new tab)
C. Dinh, M. Yusufoglu, K. Yumigeta, A. Kinikar, T. Sweepe, Z. Zeszut, Y.-J. Chang, C. Copic, S. Janssen, R. Holloway, J. Battaglia, A. Kuntubek, F. Zahin, Y. C. Lin, W. G. Vandenberghe, B. J. LeRoy, K. Müllen, R. Fasel, G. Borin Barin, Z. Mutlu
ACS Nano, 2024
[APR]Contact Engineering for Graphene Nanoribbon Devices (opens in a new tab) PDF of “Contact Engineering for Graphene Nanoribbon Devices” (opens in a new tab)
Z. Mutlu, C. Dinh, G. Borin Barin, P. H. Jacobse, A. Kumar, D. Polley, H. Singh, Z. Wang, Y. C. Lin, A. Schwartzberg, M. F. Crommie, K. Müllen, P. Ruffieux, R. Fasel, J. Bokor
Applied Physics Reviews, 2023 Featured Article
[Carbon]Scaling and Statistics of Bottom-Up Synthesized Armchair Graphene Nanoribbon Transistors (opens in a new tab) PDF of “Scaling and Statistics of Bottom-Up Synthesized Armchair Graphene Nanoribbon Transistors” (opens in a new tab)
Y. C. Lin, Z. Mutlu, G. Borin Barin, Y. Hong, J. P. Llinas, A. Narita, H. Singh, K. Müllen, P. Ruffieux, R. Fasel, J. Bokor
Carbon, 2023
Selected Professional Activities
Member, Early Career Advisory Board2026 – Present
RSC Applied Interfaces (opens in a new tab) (Royal Society of Chemistry)
Member, Early Career Editorial Board2026 – Present
Graphene and 2D Materials (opens in a new tab) (Springer Nature)
Contributing Author, SRC Microelectronics and Advanced Packaging Technologies (MAPT) Roadmap 2.02025
Digital Processing and Workforce Development chapters (opens in a new tab), Semiconductor Research Corporation
General Chair, FUSENANO National Workshop2024
Molecules to Systems: The Future of Semiconductors with 1D and 2D Nanomaterials (opens in a new tab), Tucson, AZ
Work Experience
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (2022 – Present)
Assistant Professor (by courtesy), Department of Physics (2024 – Present)
Assistant Professor (by courtesy), School of Electrical, Computing, and Software Engineering (2024 – Present)
University of California, Berkeley, CA
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (2018 – 2022)
Affiliate, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2018 – 2022)
University of California, Riverside, CA
Assistant Project Scientist, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (2017 – 2018)
Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering (2016 – 2017)
Education
Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA
2011 – 2016Advisor: Cengiz S. Ozkan
Dissertation: “Crystal Growth and Phase Engineering of Two-Dimensional Metal Chalcogenides (opens in a new tab)”
M.S. in Physics, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey
2007 – 2009Advisor: Oğuz Doğan
Thesis: “Fabrication of YBCO Superconducting Thin Film on Si Substrate and Investigation of the Film Properties”
B.S. in Physics Education, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey
2002 – 2007