Andrew J. Mannix

Atoms set the ultimate limit for materials engineering. Andy Mannix’s research focuses on tailoring materials at this atomic scale to control their electronic properties, driving advances in electronic, optoelectronic, and quantum technologies. His group specializes in the growth, fabrication, and characterization, of two-dimensional (2D) materials and their van der Waals interfaces with the goal of building platforms for deterministic atomic-scale engineering.

To advance this frontier, the Mannix lab develops growth techniques to produce 2D semiconductor films with minimal defects and precisely tuned doping. These materials are integrated into nanoscale devices to optimize interfaces and evaluate performance. Leveraging machine learning and AI, the lab accelerates material quality assessments and pioneers robotic assembly methods for van der Waals heterostructures in high/ultra-high vacuum environments. The group’s expertise in scanning probe microscopy, including scanning tunneling and advanced atomic force microscopy, enables exploration of material structure and properties with atomic precision.

Andy joined Stanford University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) in 2020. He has received the Office of Naval Research YIP Award (2024) and the NSF CAREER Award (2024).

He earned his B.S. in MSE from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his Ph.D. in MSE from Northwestern University, where, as an NSF GRFP Fellow, he pioneered the growth and atomic-scale characterization of new 2D materials, including borophene. During his Kadanoff-Rice Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Chicago, he developed innovative methods for robotic heterostructure assembly and processing of 2D materials.