Brookhaven’s Functional Materials Center Appoints Charles Black Director

Charles Black has been named director of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility located at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Black, who is also the group leader for Electronic Nanomaterials at CFN, joined Brookhaven Lab in 2006 as a scientist and became leader of the Electronic Nanomaterials Group the following year. Using his expertise in block copolymers, or linked polymer chains, he has developed nanostructures for a broad range of applications, including photovoltaic devices, superhydrophobic surfaces, and chemical sensors.

Black's group oversees scientific user facilities for nanofabrication, materials synthesis, and advanced optical spectroscopy. Each year, his group shares their expertise with more than 200 users.

Prior to coming to the CFN, Black spent 10 years as a research staff member at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, where he began his career after obtaining a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University. While working at IBM, he pioneered the use of polymer self-assembly for the fabrication of high-performance semiconductor devices for microelectronics.

The CFN's capabilities and the scientific expertise of its staff allow users to fabricate, characterize, and understand nanomaterials, all under one roof. The CFN's science mandate is to explore nanometer-scale materials that address the nation's challenges in energy security.