Gerard and his research group conducts research on nanoscale acoustics in atomic force microscopes for imaging purposes and graphene-based electromechanical systems for sensing purposes as well as for fundamental properties of two-dimensional materials. Gerard studies the propagation of sound waves at the nanoscale through nano-devices in order to understand the wave front arriving at the surface of the device and detects these with an atomic force microscope. The key objective is to resolve the inner structure from the device in a similar way to conventional ultrasound imaging. Later on, Gerard studied the response of graphene to bulk acoustic waves and strain, as graphene has excellent mechanical properties for the application in acoustic sensors and actuators. Gerard was the first to show that graphene resonators can detect acoustic waves traveling through the substrate. Currently, Gerard uses his knowledge on these topics to develop new acoustic imaging techniques at the nanoscale as well as acoustic sensing techniques employing nanoscale two-dimensional materials at various length scales. Gerard is involved in the Plantenna project, a 4TU initiative, to study the application of ultrasound in agriculture and to develop autonomous sensor networks.

Scientific interests:

• Photoacoustic actuation and detection
• Ultrasound for plant health monitoring
• Optical and Acoustic Sensing
• Atomic Force Microscopy

Expertise:

• Acoustic wave scattering for 3D sample reconstruction
• Mechanical properties of 2D materials
• Atomic force microscopy techniques for subsurface imaging
• Ultrasound-based sensing

Models and equipment:

• Atomic force microscope based on ultrafast photoacoustics
• Analysis pipelines for plant health monitoring
• Interferometer for the characterization of 2D materials