Prof. Dr. Suzanne Mohney – Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies

Prof. Dr. Suzanne Mohney

Pennsylvania State University
Materials Science and Engineering

External Senior Fellow (FRESCO Programme)
December 2023 – December 2025

Last Update: 08.11.2024

Curriculum Vitae

Suzanne Mohney is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University and also holds the title of Professor of Electrical Engineering. Prior to 2004, she was an Associate or Assistant Professor at Penn State. She earned a Ph.D. in Materials Science at the University of Wisconsin in 1994 and graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 1987. She has been a recipient of research awards from The Electrochemical Society and Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, as well as an award for outstanding teaching from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. From 2013 to 2019, she served as Chair of the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Materials Science and Engineering and received the Penn State Graduate School Alumni Society Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award in 2019. From 2013–present, Prof. Mohney has served as treasurer, vice chair, chair, and past chair of the Electronic Materials Committee, which organizes the Electronic Materials Conference.

Selected Publications

K. A. Cooley and S. E. Mohney, “Reactivity in metal-Ge-Te systems: Thermodynamic predictions and experimental observations,” Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A 37 (2019) 061510-1–061510-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5126109
Timothy N. Walter, Sora Lee, Xiaotian Zhang, Mikhail Chubarov, Joan M. Redwing, Thomas N. Jackson, Suzanne E. Mohney, “Atomic Layer Deposition of ZnO on MoS₂ and WSe₂,” Applied Surface Science 480 (2019) 43-51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.apsusc.2019.02.182
K. A. Cooley, R. Alsaadi, R. L. Gurunathan, A. C. Domask, L. Kerstetter, W. A. Saidi, and S. E. Mohney, “Room-temperature Epitaxy of Metal Thin Films on Tungsten Disulfide,” Journal of Crystal Growth 505 (2019) 44–51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.8b00257
A. J. Mughal, T. N. Walter, K. A. Cooley, A. Bertuch, and S. E. Mohney, “Effect of Substrate on the Growth and Properties of MoS₂ Thin Films Grown by Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition,” Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A 37 (2019) 010907-1– 010907-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5074201
Michael Abraham and Suzanne E. Mohney, “Annealed Ag contacts to MoS₂ field effect transistors,” Journal of Applied Physics 122(11) 115306-1–115306–7 (2017). DOI: 10.1063/1.4991961

FRIAS Project

Novel Electrodes for Energy Conversion

Solar cells, batteries, and fuel cells are all solutions for the world’s growing demand for energy, and electrodes are essential for these devices and systems. Building on nearly 30 years of experience with electronic materials, thin-film deposition, and electrical contacts, Prof. Mohney will collaborate with Prof. A. Fischer and Prof. S. Glunz of the University of Freiburg to perform fundamental research on electrodes, including catalytic and photocatalytic electrodes. In particular, she will employ atomic layer deposition and high-pressure confined chemical vapor deposition to modify nanostructured and semiconducting electrodes prepared at the University of Freiburg to confer greater efficiency for energy conversion and enhanced stability. Besides contributing to the science of sustainability, novel electrodes will contribute to ongoing research at the University of Freiburg on energy autonomy of materials systems with life-like functions.