日本材料科學界的巨擘，二維材料研究的關鍵推手：谷口尚博士 (Dr. Takashi Taniguchi)
Dr. Takashi Taniguchi 現任日本國立材料研究院（NIMS）執行副所長，同時擔任其旗下的Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) 主任。他是高壓合成與先進晶體成長領域的權威，尤其在六方氮化硼（h-BN）材料的開發方面，對近十五年來二維材料科學的發展帶來深遠影響。
Dr. Takashi Taniguchi 與同事 Dr. Kenji Watanabe 共同開發出世界領先的hBN晶體，除了是當今最高品質的原子級寬能隙半導體，也是全球研究石墨烯等二維材料不可或缺的關鍵材料。這些晶體能大幅提升石墨烯的電子遷移率，進一步促進量子材料與奈米電子學領域的技術突破。截至目前，Dr. Taniguchi 團隊已向全球超過270家研究機構供應hBN晶體，並參與超過1,100篇國際學術論文發表，涵蓋《Nature》、《Science》等頂尖期刊。
Dr. Takashi Taniguchi 於2019年當選為世界陶瓷科學院（World Academy of Ceramics）院士，至今持續推動材料科學的創新與國際合作，為未來功能性材料的發展奠定堅實基礎。Dr Taniguchi 的研究成果屢獲殊榮，包括2025年的「つくば賞」與「朝日賞」，2023年的「美國物理學會 James C. McGroddy 新材料獎」，並自2017年至2024年間連續入選 Clarivate Analytics「高被引科學家」。2022年更獲選為 Clarivate 引用桂冠獎（Citation Laureate）得主。根據 Web of Science，截至2025年2月，其h-index高達188，足見其學術影響力之深。
本次由國立台灣大學新穎材料原子級科學研究中心(AI-Mat) 舉辦，邀請Dr. Takashi Taniguchi 來台訪問，一起分享其高壓成長鑽石與六方氮化硼 (h-BN) 晶體的研究成果與經驗，也分享其在最新量子科技的應用。
Dr. Takashi Taniguchi: A Pioneer of 2D Materials and a Leading Figure in Japanese Materials Science
Dr. Takashi Taniguchi is an internationally known material scientist with his expertise in the high-pressure synthesis of new materials. He is currently the Executive Vice Director of the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in Japan, and also serves as the Director of the Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA). He is a leading authority in high-pressure synthesis and advanced crystal growth, with a particular focus on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). Over the past 15 years, he has profoundly impacted the development of 2D materials science.
Together with his colleague Dr. Kenji Watanabe, Dr. Taniguchi developed the world’s highest-quality h-BN crystals. These crystals are not only top-tier atomically thin wide-bandgap semiconductors but have also become indispensable in research on graphene and other 2D materials. Their use significantly enhances the electron mobility of graphene, driving breakthroughs in quantum materials and nanoelectronics. To date, Dr. Taniguchi’s team has supplied h-BN crystals to over 270 research institutions worldwide and has contributed to more than 1,100 international scientific publications, including in top journals such as Nature and Science.
In 2019, Dr. Taniguchi was elected as an Academician of the World Academy of Ceramics. He continues to lead innovation and international collaboration in materials science, laying a solid foundation for the future of functional materials. His research achievements have been widely recognized, including the 2025 Tsukuba Prize and The Asahi Prize, the Ceramics Grand Prize and the Ichimura Prize in Science for Distinguished Achievement in 2023, the 2023 James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials from the American Physical Society, and being named a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics from 2017 to 2024. In 2022, he was also named a Clarivate Citation Laureate. As of February 2025, his h-index has reached an impressive 188 according to Web of Science, underscoring his extraordinary academic influence.
This visit is hosted by the Center of Atomic Initiatives for New Materials (AI-Mat) at National Taiwan University, which is honored to welcome Dr. Takashi Taniguchi to Taiwan. He will share his pioneering research on the high-pressure growth of diamond and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) crystals and their emerging applications in cutting-edge quantum technologies.
Abstract: Diamond has been heavily used as a gemstone and ultra-hard material since ancient times, and in recent years, research has been developed into a quantum sensor capable of room-temperature operation by controlling nitrogen defects. In boron nitride, which has a similar crystal structure with carbon system, its low-density phase, graphite-type hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), is currently being explored as the only wide-gap semiconductor (band gap = 6.3 eV) in a 2D atomic layered compound.
hBN and cubic BN (cBN) are known as the representative crystal structures of BN. The former is chemically and thermally stable, and has been widely used as an electrical insulator and heat-resistant materials. The latter, which is a high-density phase, is an ultra-hard material second only to diamond. Among those BN crystals, some progresses in the synthesis of high purity BN crystals were achieved by using Ba-BN as a growth solvent material at high pressure (HP) of 5.5GPa. Band-edge natures (cBN Eg=6.2eV and hBN Eg=6.4eV) were characterized by their optical properties. The key issue to obtain high purity crystals is to reduce oxygen and carbon contamination in the HP growth circumstances. Then an attractive potential of hBN as a deep ultraviolet (DUV) light emitter and also superior properties as substrate of 2-dimensional(2D) atomic layer devices such as graphene were realized. In recent years, h-BN has been applied not only as a 2D substrate material, but also as a low-loss dielectric, an infrared confinement device (phonon polariton), and a host material for quantum sensing such as post NV- diamond.
Also, controlling of boron and nitrogen isotope ratio (10B,11B and 15N) in hBN and cBN crystals can be now carried out by metatheses reaction under HPHT. In this talk, our recent activities on the high-pressure synthesis of diamond and BN single crystals and their properties’ characterizations will be introduced.