Materials scientist and an artist
I’m a scientist, engineer, and perpetual learner fascinated by how things work — from atoms and materials to the technologies shaping our future.
What a good deposition run looks like: thickness converging to the same value, cell to cell.
I’m a materials scientist and engineer attracted to problems where deep science meets tangible impact. For me, solving a challenge isn't just about making it work - it's also about understanding the "why" behind the solution
I did my PhD and MS in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, advised by Prof. Sameh Tawfick, and my B.E. in Materials Science and Engineering at Anna University in Chennai, India. My doctoral work focused on the "wonder material" graphene, specifically exploring the fascinating relationship between this 2D material and the surfaces it grows on. Today, I work on the chemistry and process engineering behind the transistors inside modern chips at ASM, enabling the next iPhones and AI infrastructure around the world
Outside of work, I’m happiest exploring something new. I love painting, spontaneous road trips, music, badminton, and saying yes to experiences that make life more interesting. I’m a curious person, drawn to meaningful conversations, and always looking for the next thing to learn, build, or experience. Ambitious about what’s next, curious about everything in between!
Sep 2023 — Present
ASM America, Phoenix, Arizona
May 2022 — Aug 2022
Applied Materials, Chemistry Center for Excellence, Santa Clara, California
Devised a non-destructive method pairing electron backscatter diffraction with atomic force microscopy to determine the crystallographic orientation of catalyst-surface facets formed by graphene-metal interaction, and built an analytical model of the faceting energetics to explain which orientations are favored.
Ran statistical analysis on the faceting behavior to understand how facet size depends on both external process conditions and internal material factors.
Fabricated ribbon-like and patterned metal structures via lithography, wet etching, and reactive ion etching on sputtered Pd and Pt films that served as graphene-growth catalysts.
Measured a 30% increase in modulus from strain in the graphene and carbide formation in the metal, and a 40% improvement in fracture resistance under tensile and fatigue loading compared to bare-metal controls.
Explored the parameter space for chemical-vapor-deposited monolayer graphene across various thin-film and foil catalysts using design of experiments, feeding a data-driven analysis platform.
Built the GUI for the GrResQ application on NanoHUB and enabled efficient large-scale analysis of Raman map scans within the suite.
Work spanning semiconductor process patents, peer-reviewed papers, and conference presentations from my time in industry and at UIUC.
Robinson James, Mitisha Surana, et al. Chamber arrangements with offset upper reflectors, semiconductor processing systems, and related methods of making chamber arrangements and depositing material layers onto substrates. US20260005050A1.View patent
Caleb Miskin, Mitisha Surana, et al. Chamber arrangements with offset heater element arrays, semiconductor processing systems, and methods of making chamber arrangements and depositing material layers onto substrates. US20260005045A1.View patent
Jad Yaacoub, Mitisha Surana, et al. Graphene-Induced Surface Softening and Nanostructure Evolution of Platinum Foils. Advanced Engineering Materials 26.23: 2401053.
Kaihao Zhang, Mitisha Surana, et al. Ultrathin Damage-Tolerant Flexible Metal Interconnects Reinforced by in-situ Graphene Synthesis. npj Flexible Electronics 8.1: 16.
Jad Yaacoub, Mitisha Surana, et al. Graphene-Induced Surface Stiffening of Copper Studied by Nanoindentation. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 128.8: 3449–3459.
Mitisha Surana, et al. Strain-driven faceting of graphene-catalyst interface. Nano Letters 23.5: 1659–1665.
Jad Yaacoub, Mitisha Surana, et al. Flexible and damage-tolerant metal-graphene nanocomposites. MRS Spring Conference, Hawaii.
Mitisha Surana, et al. Interface mechanics of 2D materials on metal substrates. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids: 104831.
Mitisha Surana, et al. Evolution of the graphene-metal interface during chemical vapor deposition. MRS Fall Conference, Boston.
G. Ananthakrishnan, Mitisha Surana, et al. Graphene-mediated stabilization of surface facets on metal substrates. J. Appl. Phys. 130: 165302.
Mitisha Surana, Joshua Schiller, et al. Graphene Rescue (Gr-ResQ): A crowd-sourced database with analysis tools. Future Directions in Nanomaterial Synthesis Conference.
Joshua A. Schiller, Mitisha Surana, et al. Crowd-Sourced Data and Analysis Tools for Advancing the Chemical Vapor Deposition of Graphene: Implications for Manufacturing. ACS Applied Nano Materials 3.10: 10144–10155.
Kaihao Zhang, Mitisha Surana, Richard Haasch, Sameh Tawfick. Elastic modulus scaling in graphene-metal composite nanoribbons. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 53.18: 185305.
Mitisha Surana, Kaihao Zhang, Sameh Tawfick. Mechanics of the graphene-metal interface. Society of Engineering Sciences Conference, Washington University in St. Louis.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Anna University, Chennai, India