Dr. Ragan's research involves the exploration and development of novel material systems for nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices. One of the key issues in incorporating diverse materials in electronic and optoelectronic devices is to understand the material interfaces and how these affect electronic and/or optical properties. The effect of material interfaces is particularly important as we scale down to nanometer dimensions where the surface to volume ratio is high. Moreover, since the dimensions of devices will reach the dimensions of molecules, we strive to understand these interfaces at the atomic and molecular level.

Dr. Ragan's research group uses self-assembly to fabricate one-dimensional and zero-dimensional organic/inorganic nanostructure arrays. The correlation of material interfaces with electron transport along the lateral axis of nanowires and transport through a molecule/metal nanowire junction is being studied to understand how these components will behave in nanoscale devices.