Welcome to the History Blog featuring the connections between Switzerland and the Midwest. I am Joerg Oberschmied, Deputy Consul General in Chicago. My interest in history started at an early age and I hope you enjoy these journeys through time. The views and opinions expressed below are solely those of the respondent and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author.
Peter Sutter is a Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He earned master’s and doctoral degrees in Physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich). Previously he held positions at the Colorado School of Mines and the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory. His research interests include 2D materials, layered (van der Waals) semiconductors, interfacial physics and chemistry, nanomaterials, and advanced instrument and methods development. Among his awards are the NSF Career Award, the Scientific American 50 Award, and the Sapphire Prize
Joerg Oberschmied: You grew up in Switzerland and studied physics at the ETH Zurich. Tell us what made you become a scientist.
Peter Sutter: Attending the “Kantonsschule,” I became fascinated by physics since it related to hobbies like sailing as well as major issues and challenges facing society, such as climate change, nuclear energy, or arms control. Even Dürrenmatt wrote about physicists! Studying physics also promised to open many possible career directions. Following the Matura, I thus enrolled at ETH, the first member of my family to attend university. After a tough first year where the entire curriculum focused on mathematics – not my strong suit previously – things improved with the offering of a sequence of courses in different specialties: Nuclear and particle physics, solid-state physics, quantum electronics, and so on. Solid-state and materials physics were especially appealing since they covered the entire spectrum between basic and applied science and underpinned important applications in technology. Electives in this direction led to my diploma with thesis on germanium photodetectors, followed by the decision to pursue research and a doctorate. I really enjoyed the research experience and began to consider an academic career. After receiving my PhD, my wife and I moved as postdocs to the University of Wisconsin. Finally, in my second postdoc year, I was able to realize my dream of becoming a professor by joining the faculty at the Colorado School of Mines.
JO: Aside from your parents, which Person(s) had the greatest influence on your development in Switzerland?
PS: Rather than individuals, I found that small circles of people proved especially influential. Throughout my teenage years, I was an avid middle-distance runner in our local athletics club. The activities included regular trainings (three to four evenings per week), intensive practice camps in the Engadin or Ticino, and cantonal, regional, as well as national competitions and championships. The combination of a strong camaraderie within the team and of the competitive spirit required of any athlete – the desire to strive for excellence, to surpass others and win in competition – played an important role in developing both a keen ambition as well as skills as a team player. As a student at ETH, it was again a small group of like-minded classmates who became close friends and provided the support network necessary to persevere, sharing the day-to-day routine at the university as well as weekend hikes, mushroom hunts, or an evening beer in Zürich’s Niederdorf. In my twenties, finally, I was fortunate to be able to join another group that had a lasting influence on me. At the time, renowned Swiss sailor Pierre Fehlmann was looking to build a team for his fifth attempt at winning the Whitbread Round the World Race – later renamed Volvo Ocean Race and now simply The Ocean Race – a grueling 6-month long sailing regatta in which the planet is circumnavigated in several stages with stops on different continents. Even though my earlier sailing experience had been limited to small dinghies on calm Swiss lakes, I was chosen to participate in two regattas that were part of the preparations for the Whitbread: The Tour de l’Europe, contested over 2 months with 5 stops – Lorient, Dublin, Lisbon, Barcelona, and Genova – along the European coast; and the Transat Quebec-St Malo across the North Atlantic from Canada to France, setting a course record that stands to this day. Being cooped up with an all-francophone crew on an 80-foot ocean racer worked wonders in improving my modest French language skills. And night shifts, barreling down waves with storm clouds breaking up into starry skies and pods of dolphins playing at boat’s bow instilled a lifelong love for adventure and awe of nature and the elements.
JO: What brought you to America and in particular to the Midwest?
PS: In one word, our job. My wife and I – both physicists – began our professional journey in America at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But as is often the case in science, we led a kind of nomadic life. Two years as postdocs in the Midwest led to five years as faculty at the Colorado School of Mines in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, followed by twelve years as staff scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory, a large Department of Energy research lab on Long Island. Finally, our move to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2015 brought us back to the Midwest/Great Plains region; our journey came full circle.
JO: You specialize in Nanotechnology, Materials science, and Optoelectronics – what makes your research special for the layperson?
PS: Our research spans the discovery of novel semiconductor materials, investigation of their electronic and optoelectronic properties, and translation into prototype device architectures. A unique aspect is a strong emphasis on microscopy to achieve our goals. For example, we are developing electron microscopy methods that allow imaging materials during synthesis and processing, thus shedding light on the atomic-scale mechanisms that govern the formation and transformation of crystalline materials. Other types of real-time electron microscopy are applied to observe self-assembly of nanostructures in liquids, which requires their containment in closed cells that shield the liquid environment from the vacuum of the electron microscope. Finally, we use the focused electron beam in our microscope to probe the optoelectronic properties of semiconductors. Locally exciting electrons at the nanometer scale and detecting the light emitted as they relax provides us with important information, for instance relating to the interaction of charge carriers with defects and interfaces. The semiconductors we study are mostly layered van der Waals crystals, consisting of atomic layers held together by weak van der Waals forces. In the form of planar crystals or flakes, our materials are promising for solar energy conversion and the detection of light. When we grow them as thin “nanowires”, the layered semiconductors develop additional unusual traits. Their electronic structure is affected by a small rotation (or “twist”) between each pair of layers, which is locked in during the growth process and finely tunable via the wire diameter. This interlayer twist can have profound consequences, for instance amplifying the interactions between electrons and thus inducing superconductivity.
JO: What are the most exciting discoveries in material sciences on the horizon?
PS: It might be presumptuous to make a prediction here. After all, the really exciting discoveries are often unexpected and serendipitous! While we of course always hope for a groundbreaking discovery, we found that investigating ways to translate a new “wonder material” from the first small samples to a scalable platform ready for industrial use can also be highly rewarding. Hence, the science of materials synthesis has been a core element of our pursuits over my entire career. A prominent example relates to the emergence of graphene and other two-dimensional materials. Graphene, an atomically thin sheet of carbon, was first isolated in 2004 using a simple “Scotch-tape” method to extract single sheets from layered graphite crystals. While this approach proved sufficient to explore many of the extraordinary properties of graphene, the small crystals it produced were clearly not suitable for future industrial applications. Using real-time microscopy, our team discovered that very large graphene crystals could be grown on metal surfaces. Over several years, we developed a comprehensive understanding of graphene growth; pioneered the concept of chemical reactions ‘under cover’, that is at the interface between a graphene sheet and a metal; learned how to transfer high-quality graphene from metals to industry compatible supports; extended the lessons learned to other 2D materials, such as hexagonal boron nitride; and conceived methods for joining different materials with complementary properties into “heterostructures”, the basis for atomically thin circuitry.
JO: What do you value most about Switzerland and what do you value most about the United States?
PS: Perhaps surprisingly, I value aspects of the two countries that are polar opposites. The United States (and especially the Midwest/Plains region) offers vast open spaces that are only sparsely populated. On the other hand, diverse sceneries from the cities and rolling hills of the Mittelland to the highest peaks of the Alps are all close at hand in Switzerland. Of course, Switzerland’s unique public transit network with regional and long-distance trains, local systems such as the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund, and service to the smallest mountain communities by Postbus, contributes greatly to making the entire country accessible with little or no effort.
JO: What advice would you give a young person starting out today and wishing to do research?
PS: Overall, I would strongly encourage this choice. In my opinion, a career in research can still be one of the most interesting and rewarding professional paths today. However, science has seen profound changes over the course of my career, primarily due to the explosive growth in emerging countries. When I started my academic career, I knew all the major players in my subfield, if not personally then at least by name. That has certainly changed, and for many papers published in my field today I no longer recognize the senior authors. There are many ways in which this increasing anonymity can impact young scientists striving to build their reputation. These trends can be mitigated, however, by concerted efforts to build a network of like-minded and friendly colleagues. Organization of workshops, conference symposia, or other professional gatherings is a great way to realize this networking while at the same time establishing oneself as a future leader in the field.
JO: Professor Sutter, thank you for taking the time to share these stories with our readers
To learn more about Professor Sutter’s work click here.
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