Tristan Anderson: Using physics to improve modern electronics and enhance lives

Graduate researcher Tristan Anderson uses a microscope to inspect the largest features of one of his devices. Photo courtesy of Tristan Anderson.

The following story was written in December 2023 by Nakyah Vaughan in ENGL 4824: Science Writing as part of a collaboration between the English department and the Center for Communicating Science.

Semiconductors are at the heart of all modern electronics. They are in your computer, they are in your phone, and they play a crucial role in the acquisition, analysis, and transmission of data in society. Without them, you would be reading this article in print on paper.

Tristan Anderson, a Virginia Tech graduate student in the Department of Physics, wants to harness the potential of semiconductors to enhance medical care. Anderson delves into the intricate realm of mesoscopic physics, which is the study of the properties of materials from the scale of a few atoms up to the scale of a grain of sugar.

Anderson diligently crafts and refines various electronic devices that depend on a special type of semiconductor grown at Princeton by Mansour Shayegan’s research group and at Purdue by Michael Manfra’s research group. Anderson’s collaborators are very good at growing and characterizing the special semiconductor structures, which confine electrons to a two-dimensional plane.

“This confinement,” Anderson explains, “changes the way electrons interact with one another. It gives rise to some pretty amazing phenomena that deeply challenge our current understanding of physics.”

A photo of tweezers for a physics research article on Tristan Anderson's work. — With tweezers in one hand and a soldering iron in the other, Anderson manually attaches up to 14 gold wires - each wire thinner than the diameter of your hair - to the semiconductor device. Photo courtesy of Tristan Anderson.

Anderson believes the implications of this work are monumental in the field of nanoelectronics. Successful advancements in this field of semiconductor technology could revolutionize various devices, he says, potentially allowing them to achieve speeds a hundred times faster while drastically minimizing heat output.

“Reducing the heat output of modern CPUs is just one consequence of mastering the fundamental properties of this type of semiconductor,” Anderson says. “Heating effects that plague modern CPUs of today could in theory be side-stepped, thanks to the confinement. For the experts who may be reading: confinement can eliminate a lot of the need for capacitive coupling of the electrons to the gate, which results in a heat loss in traditional electronics. According to our simulations, we can push our devices to around 400 GHz before they start misbehaving.”

Anderson's commitment to his research is deeply personal. His philosophy intertwines technical expertise with genuine passion. During his undergraduate senior year, an encounter with an individual battling brain cancer profoundly impacted him. This experience illuminated the potential impact of his work. His research isn't solely about enhancing technology; he has hopes of bringing aspects of novel sensing to medical care. Anderson envisions a future where his research aids in enhancing the care provided to individuals coping with various medical conditions.

For Anderson, the fusion of physics expertise with the noble pursuit of helping others is a driving force. His dedication to making a difference in people's lives underlies his research goals: to enhance the speed and efficiency of semiconductors, contribute to advancements in medical devices, reduce energy consumption, and foster a better world.