Frances Ross

About

Professor Frances Ross is a TDK Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. Her research focuses on the development of functional nanostructures with atomic-level precision, utilizing transmission electron microscopy to observe crystal growth and reactions, and scanning tunneling microscopy to measure properties of nanomaterials. Her work explores growth mechanisms during epitaxy, electrochemical deposition, and catalysis, with applications in microelectronics and energy storage. She is actively developing new microscopy instrumentation to enable deeper exploration of these processes. Professor Ross earned her undergraduate degree in physics and her doctorate in materials science from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. She conducted postdoctoral research at Bell Labs in New Jersey and was a staff scientist at the National Center for Electron Microscopy in Berkeley, California, specializing in high-resolution and in situ microscopy. She further focused on electron microscopy for crystal growth, including liquid and gas phase processes, as a research staff member at IBM TJ Watson Research Center in New York. She joined the MIT faculty in 2018. She is a fellow of several professional societies, including the American Physical Society, Materials Research Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Microscopy Society of America, and American Vacuum Society, and is an honorary fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society. Her…

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Materials science
• Chemistry
• Engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Inorganic chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Chemical engineering
• Physics
• Physical chemistry

Selected publications

• Nanosecond protonic programmable resistors for analog deep learning

  Science · 2022 · 135 citations

  Nanoscale ionic programmable resistors for analog deep learning are 1000 times smaller than biological cells, but it is not yet clear how much faster they can be relative to neurons and synapses. Scaling analyses of ionic transport and charge-transfer reaction rates point to operation in the nonlinear regime, where extreme electric fields are present within the solid electrolyte and its interfaces. In this work, we generated silicon-compatible nanoscale protonic programmable resistors with highl…

  DOI

• A general strategy for bimetallic Pt-based nano-branched structures as highly active and stable oxygen reduction and methanol oxidation bifunctional catalysts

  Nano Research · 2020 · 88 citations

  The morphology and size of Pt-based bimetallic alloys are known to determine their electrocatalytic performance in reactions relevant to fuel cells. Here, we report a general approach for preparing Pt-M (M = Fe, Co and Ni) bimetallic nano-branched structure (NBs) by a simple high temperature solution-phase synthesis. As-prepared Pt-M NBs show a polycrystalline structure and are rich in steps and kinks on the surface, which promote them favorable bifunctional catalytic properties in acidic electr…

  DOI

• The Influence of Ionizing Radiation on Quantification for In Situ and Operando Liquid‐Phase Electron Microscopy

  Advanced Materials · 2025-02-21 · 37 citations

  reviewOpen accessCorresponding

  The ionizing radiation harnessed in electron microscopes or synchrotrons enables unique insights into nanoscale dynamics. In liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy (LP-TEM), irradiating a liquid sample with electrons offers access to real space information at an unmatched combination of temporal and spatial resolution. However, employing ionizing radiation for imaging can alter the Gibbs free energy landscape during the experiment. This is mainly due to radiolysis and the corresponding sh…

  PublisherDOI

• Enhanced ferromagnetism in monolayer Cr₂Te₃ via topological insulator coupling

  Reports on Progress in Physics · 2025-05-27 · 9 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Abstract Exchange-coupled interfaces are pivotal in exploiting two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetism. Due to the extraordinary correlations among charge, spin, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom, layered magnetic transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) bode well for exotic topological phenomena. Here we report the realization of wafer-scale Cr 2 Te 3 down to monolayer (ML) on insulating SrTiO 3 (111) and/or Al 2 O 3 (001) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. Robust ferromagnetism persists in…

  PublisherDOI

• The Morphology and Interface Structure of Titanium on Graphene

  ACS Nano · 2025-07-09 · 5 citations

  articleCorresponding

  Titanium (Ti) is an adhesion and contact metal commonly used in nanoelectronics and two-dimensional (2D) materials research. However, we find that dramatically different film morphologies can result when Ti is deposited on graphene (Gr), depending on the experimental conditions. Through a combination of transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, we show that the most critical parameters are the number of Gr layers, nature of the Gr support, and deposition…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• M. C. Reuter

  Harvard University

  84 shared

• Joachim Dahl Thomsen

  Physical Sciences (United States)

  60 shared

• Kate Reidy

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  58 shared

• Stephan Hofmann

  38 shared

• C. J. Echer

  37 shared

• Mark Sanders

  Wageningen University & Research

  36 shared

• John H. Wheatley

  Cornell University

  36 shared

• Caroline Schooley

  Thermo Fisher Scientific (United States)

  36 shared

Education

• Ph. D., Materials Science and Metallurgy

  University of Cambridge

  1989

• B. A., Natural Sciences

  University of Cambridge

  1985

Awards & honors

• Gerhard Ertl Lecture Award (2019)
• Hatsujiro Hashimoto Medal, International Federation of Socie…
• Burton Medal, Microscopy Society of America (2003)
• Outstanding Young Investigator Award, Materials Research Soc…
• Charles Vernon Boys Medal and Prize, Institute of Physics (1…

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