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{{short description|Indian scientist and inventor}}
{{multiple issues|
{{Resume-like|date=May 2024}}
{{Autobiography|date=May 2024}}
}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Deblina Sarkar
| image = Deblina Sarkar.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Sarkar in 2018
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| fields = {{plainlist|
*[[Nanoelectronics]]
*[[Neuroscience]]
}}
| workplaces = [[MIT Media Lab]]
| alma_mater = {{plainlist|
*[[IIT (ISM) Dhanbad]]
*[[University of California, Santa Barbara]]
}}
| known_for = Ultra thin quantum mechanical transistor (ATLAS-TFET), nanoscale biosensors, expansion microscopy
| awards = 2018 MIT Technology Review's Top 10 Innovator Under 35 from India, 2016 CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award in Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering, 2016 UCSB Winifred and Louis Lancaster Dissertation Award for Math, Physical Science and Engineering, 2008 U.S. Presidential Fellowship
| thesis_title = 2D Steep Transistor Technology: Overcoming Fundamental Barriers in Low-Power Electronics and Ultra-Sensitive Biosensors
| thesis_url = https://alexandria.ucsb.edu/downloads/wd375w520
| thesis_year = 2015
| doctoral_advisor = [[Kaustav Banerjee]]
}}
'''Deblina Sarkar''' is an Indian [[electrical engineer]],<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2020 |title=Deblina Sarkar |journal=Neuron |language=en |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=235–237 |doi=10.1016/j.neuron.2020.09.044|s2cid=225098402 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and [[inventor]], born in [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deblina Sarkar Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search |url=https://patents.justia.com/inventor/deblina-sarkar |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=patents.justia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gupta |first=Sanjay |date=2018-03-30 |title=EmTech 2018: Innovators under 35 |url=https://www.livemint.com/Technology/JWYHqneM5BjZvoBqzlou6J/EmTech-2018-Innovators-under-35.html |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=Mint |language=en}}</ref> She is an assistant professor at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) and the AT&T Career Development Chair Professor of the [[MIT Media Lab]]. Sarkar has been internationally recognized for her invention of an ultra thin quantum mechanical transistor that can be scaled to nano-sizes and used in nanoelectronic biosensors. As the principal investigator of the Nano Cybernetic Biotrek Lab<ref name=":17">{{Cite web|title=Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek Lab: Professor Deblina Sarkar|url=https://web.mit.edu/deblina-sarkar/index.html|website=web.mit.edu|access-date=2020-05-10}}</ref> at MIT, Sarkar leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers towards bridging the gap between nanotechnology and synthetic biology to build new nano-devices and life-machine interfacing technologies with which to probe and enhance biological function.

== Early life and academic career ==
Sarkar was born in [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal|West Bengal, India]] and pursued her undergraduate education in electrical engineering at the [[Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad|Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines)]], Dhanbad, India. During her undergraduate degree, she focused her research on nanoscale device design and [[spintronics]], receiving international recognition for her work.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Deblina Sarkar {{!}} Nanoelectronics Research Lab {{!}} UC Santa Barbara|url=https://nrl.ece.ucsb.edu/members/deblina-sarkar|website=nrl.ece.ucsb.edu|access-date=2020-05-10}}</ref> The paper she published in 2007 explored the efficacy of double-gate [[MOSFET]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Sarkar|first1=Deblina|last2=Ganguly|first2=Samiran|last3=Datta|first3=Deepanjan|last4=Sarab|first4=A. A. P.|last5=Dasgupta|first5=Sudeb|title=20th International Conference on VLSI Design held jointly with 6th International Conference on Embedded Systems (VLSID'07) |chapter=Modeling of Leakages in Nano-Scale DG MOSFET to Implement Low Power SRAM: A Device/Circuit Co-Design |date=January 2007|pages=183–188|doi=10.1109/VLSID.2007.110|isbn=978-0-7695-2762-8|s2cid=14150555}}</ref> Before completing her degree, she spent a summer as an intern in [[Laurens W. Molenkamp|Laurens Molenkamp]]'s laboratory at the [[University of Würzburg|Wurzburg University]], Germany, conducting research in spintronics.<ref name=":1" /> She graduated with her B.E. degree in 2008, and moved to the United States to pursue both a master's degree and a Ph.D. at the [[University of California, Santa Barbara|University of California at Santa Barbara]] (UCSB).

At UCSB, Sarkar trained in [[nanoelectronics]] under the mentorship of [[Kaustav Banerjee]] where she pioneered techniques to improve energy-efficiency in nano-devices and developed novel field effect transistor biosensors using [[molybdenum disulfide]] (MoS2).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Molybdenum disulfide field-effect transistors make supersensitive biosensors|url=https://ceramics.org/ceramic-tech-today/biomaterials/molybdenum-disulfide-field-effect-transistors-make-supersensitive-biosensors|date=2014-09-12|website=The American Ceramic Society|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-10}}</ref> After completing her Ph.D. work in 2015, Sarkar began her postdoctoral fellowship at MIT in the Synthetic Neurobiology group.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Synthetic Neurobiology Group: Ed Boyden, Principal Investigator|url=https://syntheticneurobiology.org/people/display/253/23|website=syntheticneurobiology.org|access-date=2020-05-10}}</ref> Under the mentorship of [[Edward Boyden]], Sarkar developed novel technologies to map brain structure and function.

In 2020, Sarkar joined the faculty at MIT as an Assistant Professor and became the AT&T Career Development Chair Professor at MIT Media Labs.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|title=Deblina Sarkar joins the MIT Media Lab faculty|url=http://news.mit.edu/2020/deblina-sarkar-joins-mit-media-lab-faculty-0219|website=MIT News|date=19 February 2020 |access-date=2020-05-10}}</ref> She became the principal investigator of a group of researchers which she has called the Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek Lab.<ref name=":8"/> Sarkar broke down the name of her group to explain why the name represents the scientific questions and adventure they engage in.<ref name=":8" /> The "nano" refers to the fact that the team builds nanoscale devices, cybernetic refers to using technology to control computing, biological, or hybrid systems, the bio represents the integration of biology, and "trek" represents the scientific adventure they have embarked on.<ref name=":8" />

== Research and inventions ==

=== Atomically thin channel sub-thermal transistor ===
Sarkar invented a quantum-mechanical transistor, called the atomically thin and layered semiconducting-channel tunnel-FET (ATLAS-TFET).<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last1=Sarkar|first1=Deblina|last2=Xie|first2=Xuejun|last3=Liu|first3=Wei|last4=Cao|first4=Wei|last5=Kang|first5=Jiahao|last6=Gong|first6=Yongji|last7=Kraemer|first7=Stephan|last8=Ajayan|first8=Pulickel M.|last9=Banerjee|first9=Kaustav|author9-link=Kaustav Banerjee|date=October 2015|title=A subthermionic tunnel field-effect transistor with an atomically thin channel|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature15387/|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=526|issue=7571|pages=91–95|doi=10.1038/nature15387|pmid=26432247|bibcode=2015Natur.526...91S |s2cid=4467004|issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription}}</ref> This device overcomes the fundamental thermal limitations in power of conventional transistors and achieves subthermionic subthreshold swing due to quantum mechanical tunneling based carrier transport. Efficient tunneling is achieved because of its unique heterostructure design consisting of doped germanium source, atomically thin MoS2 channel, and large tunnelling area.<ref name=":7" /> This transistor can help in addressing both dimensional and power scalability issues of Information Technology.<ref name=":7" /> Sarkar's efforts to build this quantum-mechanical transistor, was published in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''.<ref name=":7" /> This work was highlighted by ''Nature'' News and Views as "Flat transistor defies the limit".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tomioka |first1=Katsuhiro |title=Flat transistor defies the limit |journal=Nature |pages=51–52 |language=en |doi=10.1038/526051a |date=October 2015|volume=526 |issue=7571 |pmid=26432242 |s2cid=205086299 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Ultra-sensitive electrical biosensors ===
Sarkar developed a novel [[Field-effect transistor]] based [[biosensor]] using MoS2 which provides high sensitivity, 74-fold higher than [[graphene]], but also ease of patternability and device fabrication as it has a 2D atomically layered structure.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Sarkar|first1=Deblina|last2=Liu|first2=Wei|last3=Xie|first3=Xuejun|last4=Anselmo|first4=Aaron C.|last5=Mitragotri|first5=Samir|last6=Banerjee|first6=Kaustav|author6-link=Kaustav Banerjee|date=2014-04-22|title=MoS2 Field-Effect Transistor for Next-Generation Label-Free Biosensors|journal=ACS Nano|volume=8|issue=4|pages=3992–4003|doi=10.1021/nn5009148|pmid=24588742|issn=1936-0851}}</ref> Her development is compatible in biological tissues and provides a novel pathway to detect single molecules, highlighting the power of MoS2 materials in the next-generation of biosensors.<ref name=":6" /> Moreover, Sarkar showed that steep turn-ON characteristics, obtained through novel technology such as band-to-band tunneling, can result in unprecedented performance improvement compared to that of conventional electrical biosensors, with around 4 orders of magnitude higher sensitivity and ten-fold lower detection time.<ref name=":18">{{Cite journal|last1=Sarkar|first1=Deblina|last2=Banerjee|first2=Kaustav|author2-link=Kaustav Banerjee|date=2012-04-05|title= Proposal for Tunnel-Field-Effect-Transistor as Ultra-Sensitive and Label-Free Biosensors|journal= Applied Physics Letters |volume=100|issue=14|pages=143108|doi=10.1063/1.3698093|bibcode=2012ApPhL.100n3108S }}</ref> This can open up new avenues for wearable/implantable medical devices as well as point-of-care applications.

=== High-frequency model of graphene ===
Sarkar and team developed a detailed methodology for the accurate evaluation of DC to high-frequency impedance of 2D layered structures.<ref name=":19">{{Cite journal|last1=Sarkar|first1=Deblina|last2=Xu|first2=Chuan|last3=Li|first3=Hong|last4=Banerjee|first4=Kaustav|author4-link=Kaustav Banerjee|date=2011-02-14|title= High-Frequency Behavior of Graphene-Based Interconnects—Part I: Impedance Modeling|journal= IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices |volume=58|issue=3|pages=843–852|doi=10.1109/TED.2010.2102031|bibcode=2011ITED...58..843S |s2cid=5558117|issn= 1557-9646 }}</ref> This model provides insights into the physics of on-chip 2D interconnects and inductors and revealed for the first-time anomalous skin effect in [[graphene]]. Going beyond the simplifying assumptions of Ohm's law, this model takes into account the effects of electric-field variation within mean free path and current dependency on the nonlocal electric-field, to accurately capture the high-frequency behavior of graphene. It showed for the first time that the high-frequency resistance of intercalation doped multi-layer graphene interconnects is lower than that of copper and [[Carbon Nanotubes|carbon nanotubes]] (CNTs). Moreover, as high as 32 and 50% improvements in quality-factor compared to copper and CNTs respectively, can be achieved with graphene-based inductors.<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal|last1=Sarkar|first1=Deblina|last2=Xu|first2=Chuan|last3=Li|first3=Hong|last4=Banerjee|first4=Kaustav|author4-link=Kaustav Banerjee|date=2011-02-14|title=High-Frequency Behavior of Graphene-Based Interconnects—Part II: Impedance Analysis and Implications for Inductor Design|journal= IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices |volume=58|issue=3|pages=853–859|doi=10.1109/TED.2010.2102035|bibcode=2011ITED...58..853S |s2cid=13652638|issn= 1557-9646 }}</ref> This model is critical for building high frequency/RF devices in emerging technologies including "all 2D" integrated circuits, which can lead to flexible/conformable computers and prosthetic devices.

=== Nanoscale mapping of the brain ===
Sarkar and team, developed a novel tool called iterated direct expansion microscopy ({{proper name|idExM}}), which enables researchers optical access to nanoscale structures by expanding tissues.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Iterative Direct Expansion Microscopy|url=https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/iterative-direct-expansion-microscopy/|last=Sarkar|first=Deblina|website=MIT Media Lab|access-date=2020-05-10}}</ref> Cellular structures, such as [[synapses]] between neurons, are densely packed with molecules impeding access of antibodies and other labelling tools.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|title=Project Overview ‹ Nanoscale mapping of bio-molecular building blocks of brain|url=https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/nanoscale-mapping-of-bio-molecular-building-blocks-of-brian/overview/|website=MIT Media Lab|access-date=2020-05-10}}</ref> Further, target molecules might be beyond the limits of diffraction such that light microscopes are unable to capture the fine detail and resolution of biological units.<ref name=":9" /> To enable visualization of nanoscale biological architectures as well as gain labeling access to even the most dense biological structures, Sarkar and her team developed {{proper name|idExM}} where they imbed tissue in hydrogel and use both mechanical and electrostatic forces to achieve nearly 100-fold linear expansion of tissues.<ref name=":9" /> This technology revealed nanoscale trans-synaptic architecture in brain tissue and intricate organization of [[amyloid-β]] plaques associated with [[Alzheimer's disease]].<ref name=":9" />

== Awards and honors ==

* '''Distinguished Scientist Award''' (one of 3 awardees nationwide) (2023)<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |title=Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek Lab: Professor Deblina Sarkar |url=https://web.mit.edu/deblina-sarkar/honors.html |access-date=2020-05-10 |website=web.mit.edu}}</ref>
* '''Early Career Distinguished Presenter''' at Materials Research Society (2023)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Science News 10 Scientists to Watch''' (2023)<ref name=":10" />
* Featured in '''Nature Neuroscience''' (2023)<ref name=":10" />
* '''MIND Prize''' (Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery) (2023)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Abundance 360 Scholar''' (2022-2023)<ref name=":10" />
* '''At&t Career Development Chair Professorship''' (2019-2023)<ref name=":10" />
* Featured in '''Association for Women in Science (AWIS)''' News Brief (2022)<ref name=":10" />
* '''NIH Directors New Innovator Award''' (2022)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Perfect and Rarely Achieved Impact Score''' of 10 from NIH (2022)<ref name=":10" />
* "'''Explorer of the Nano Age'''" feature by MIT.nano which highlighted eight pioneering nanotechnology researchers at MIT working to make the world a better place<ref name=":10" />
* '''Innovative Early Career Engineer''' by '''National Academy of Engineering''' (2022)<ref name=":10" />
* '''IEEE Nanotechnology Early Career Award''' (only awardee worldwide) (2022)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Leading next generation scientist''' by United for Medical Research (2021)<ref name=":10" />
* '''{{proper name|iCANX}} Young Scientist Award''' (2021)<ref name=":10" />
* '''IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS) feature''' (2021)<ref name=":10" />
* Featured by '''Imagination in Action''': series highlighting some of the world's most compelling people (2021) <ref name=":10" />
* Featured in '''Neuron''' (2020)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Young Scientist Excellence Award''' at Microsystems and Nanoengineering ('''Nature''') (2020)<ref name=":10" />
* Distinguished Alumnus Award as a "'''Young Achiever'''" from IIT (2020)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Technology Review's Innovators Under Age 35 (one of 10 from India)''' (2018)<ref name=":10" />
* '''NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award''' (2018)<ref name=":10" />
* '''MIT Translational Fellow''' (2017)<ref name=":10" />
* '''One of the top 3 dissertations throughout USA and Canada''' in the '''field of Mathematics, Physical sciences and all departments of Engineering''' (2016)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Lancaster Award''' for the best PhD Dissertation in the field of Mathematics, Physical Sciences and all departments of Engineering at UCSB in the period 2014-2016 (2016)<ref name=":10" />
* One of the 4 young scientists worldwide to present a '''master class on physics in structural biology and medical diagnostics''' '''Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting''' (2016)<ref name=":10" />
* '''MRS Graduate Student Award''' (2015)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Rising Star in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science''' (2015)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Falling Walls Lab Young Innovator Award''' at UCSD (One of the 3 winners) (2015)<ref name=":10" />
* "'''Bright Mind'''" honor at KAUST-NSF Conference (one of 4 honorees from USA) (2015)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Dissertation Fellowship''', UCSB (2014)<ref name=":10" />
* '''IEEE EDS PhD Fellowship Award''' (only one from the Americas and one of the 3 students worldwide to win it) (2011)<ref name=":10" />
* '''US Presidential Fellowship''' for pursuing graduate research (2008)<ref name=":10" />
* '''Outstanding Doctoral Candidate Fellowship''' (2008)<ref name=":10" />

== Selected publications ==

* Iterative Direct Expansion Microscopy. D. Sarkar, A. Wassie, J. Kang, T. Tarr, A. Tang, T. A. Blanpied, E. S. Boyden. [[Society for Neuroscience]], 2019<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|title=Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek Lab: Professor Deblina Sarkar|url=https://web.mit.edu/deblina-sarkar/publications.html#top|website=web.mit.edu|access-date=2020-05-10}}</ref>
* 2D materials for FET based biosensors. D. Sarkar. Fundamentals and Sensing applications of 2D materials, Ed: C.S. Rout, D.J. Late and Hywel Morgan, Woodhead Publishing Series, Elsevier, 2019<ref name=":12" />
* Glyoxal as an alternative to PFA in immunostaining and nanoscopy. K. N. Richter, N. H. Revelo, K. J. Seitz, M. S. Helm, D. Sarkar et al.. [[The EMBO Journal]], 2017.<ref name=":12" />
* Multiplexed neural recording along a single optical fiber via optical reflectometry. S. G. Rodriques, A. H. Marblestone, J. Scholvin, J. Dapello, D. Sarkar, M. Mankin, R. Gao, L. Wood and E. S. Boyden. [[Journal of Biomedical Optics]], Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 057003, 2016.<ref name=":12" />
* A Subthermionic Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor with an Atomically Thin Channel. Deblina Sarkar, Xuejun Xie, Wei Liu, Wei Cao, Jiahao Kang, Yongji Gong, Stephan Kraemer, Pulickel M. Ajayan and [[Kaustav Banerjee]]. [[Nature (journal)]], Vol. 526, pp. 91–95, 2015<ref name=":12" />
* Functionalization of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides with Metallic [[Nanoparticle]]s: Implications for Doping and Gas-Sensing. Deblina Sarkar, Xuejun Xie, Jiahao Kang, Haojun Zhang, Wei Liu, Jose Navarrete, Martin Moskovits and [[Kaustav Banerjee]]. [[Nano Letters]], Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 2852–2862, 2015.<ref name=":12" />
* MoS2 Field-Effect Transistor for Next-Generation Label-Free Biosensors. Deblina Sarkar, Wei Liu, Xuejun Xie, Aaron Anselmo, Samir Mitragotri and [[Kaustav Banerjee]]. [[ACS Nano]], Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 3992–4003, 2014.<ref name=":12" />
* Impact-Ionization Field-Effect-Transistor Based Biosensors for Ultra-Sensitive Detection of Biomolecules. Deblina Sarkar, Harald Gossner, Walter Hansch and [[Kaustav Banerjee]]. [[Applied Physics Letters]], Vol. 102, No. 20, 203110, 2013.<ref name=":12" />
* Proposal for Tunnel-Field-Effect-Transistor as Ultra-Sensitive and Label-Free Biosensors. Deblina Sarkar and [[Kaustav Banerjee]]. [[Applied Physics Letters]], 100, No. 14, 143108, 2012.<ref name=":12" />
* Metallic-Nanoparticle Assisted Enhanced Band-to-Band Tunneling Current. Deblina Sarkar and [[Kaustav Banerjee]]. [[Applied Physics Letters]], Vol. 99, No. 13, pp. 133116, Sept 26, 2011.<ref name=":12" />
* High-Frequency Behavior of Graphene-Based Interconnects—Part I: Impedance Modeling. Deblina Sarkar, Chuan Xu, Hong Li, and [[Kaustav Banerjee]]. [[IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices]], Vol. 58, No. 3, pp. 843–852, March 2011.<ref name=":12" />
* A Novel Enhanced Electric-Field Impact-Ionization MOS Transistor. Deblina Sarkar, Navab Singh and [[Kaustav Banerjee]]. [[IEEE Electron Device Letters]], Vol. 31, No. 11, pp. 1175–1177, Nov. 2010.<ref name=":12" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarkar, Deblina}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian neuroscientists]]
[[Category:Indian women neuroscientists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women engineers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian engineers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian inventors]]
[[Category:Scientists from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Santa Barbara alumni]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty]]
[[Category:Indian expatriate academics in the United States]]
[[Category:Indian electronics engineers]]
[[Category:Women electrical engineers]]
[[Category:Indian women inventors]]

Deblina Sarkar - Revision history

MDPOliva97: creating