Graphene Strainstronics: Prague to Production ft. Martin Rejhon
Dr. Martin Rejhon is advancing fundamental graphene research at Charles University Prague—particularly epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide. His work on strain-engineered graphene opens scalable pathways toward future optoelectronics and advanced electronic devices.
In this episode
- How Martin’s group at Charles University grows graphene by heating silicon carbide until the silicon leaves and the carbon left behind forms layers
- Why three-layer graphene can stack in two ways, ABA and ABC, explained with slices of bread and playing cards, and why ABC is his favourite
- Why his group controls the stacking order with strain rather than twisting, and why a method that works on a whole wafer matters for industry
- How Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy tell the stacking orders apart
- The Nano Scientific Forum Europe coming to Prague in September 2026
Key Takeaways
🔬 Graphene Epitaxy — Epitaxial graphene growth via thermal decomposition of silicon carbide enables scalable production techniques.
⚙️ Straintronics Innovation — Controlled strain (rather than twist angles) can tune graphene properties, opening pathways to novel electronic and optoelectronic applications.
🔍 Precision Characterisation — Raman spectroscopy and the Park Systems NX10 AFM are used to precisely map graphene structures and quality.
🏭 From Lab to Fab — Dr. Rejhon’s vision: translating graphene research from fundamental science to large-scale industrial applications.
🌐 NSFE 2026 Prague — Hosting the NanoScientific Forum Europe 2026, with expert talks, lab tours, and networking in Prague.
Further Reading
- PNAS — Strain-Engineered Graphene
- Nature Nanotechnology — Graphene Nanomechanics
- Park Systems NX10 AFM
About the guest
Martin Rejhon is a Group Leader at the Institute of Physics of Charles University in the Czech Republic, where his group grows epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide and aims to maximise ABC-stacked three-layer graphene for future electronic devices. He was a 2024 grantee of the Czech Science Foundation’s JUNIOR STAR scheme.