Thirteen peer-reviewed articles, two granted patents and two pending applications, across two research areas: electron-enhanced atomic layer deposition at CU Boulder, and superhard transition metal borides at UCLA.
Every entry below links to the published record. The same list, with citation counts, is on Google Scholar.
The article links go to the publisher’s version, which in most cases is paywalled. The dissertation is hosted here in full, and I intend to put accessible copies of the rest up over time.
As of September 2026: 371 citations, h-index 10, i10-index 10.
Journal articles
Electron-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition of Tunable TiCₓNᵧ Ternary Nitride Films Using Tetrakis(dimethylamido)titanium with Ammonia Reactive Background Gas
Z. C. Sobell, A. S. Cavanagh, S. M. George
Chemistry of Materials 38, 4104–4114 (2026)
Electron-Enhanced Deposition of Titanium-, Silicon- and Tungsten-Containing Films at Low Temperatures Using Volatile Precursors with Various Reactive Background Gases
Z. C. Sobell, A. S. Cavanagh, S. M. George
Chemistry of Materials 37, 4652–4664 (2025)
Electron-enhanced SiO₂ atomic layer deposition at 35 °C using disilane and ozone or water as reactants
J. C. Gertsch, Z. C. Sobell, A. S. Cavanagh, H. Simka, S. M. George
Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A 41, 042404 (2023)
Electron-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition of Titanium Nitride Films Using an Ammonia Reactive Background Gas
Z. C. Sobell, S. M. George
Chemistry of Materials 34, 9624–9633 (2022)
Hollow cathode plasma electron source for low temperature deposition of cobalt films by electron-enhanced atomic layer deposition
Z. C. Sobell, A. S. Cavanagh, D. R. Boris, S. G. Walton, S. M. George
Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A 39, 042403 (2021)
Synthesis and Characterization of Single-Phase Metal Dodecaboride Solid Solutions: Zr₁₋ₓYₓB₁₂ and Zr₁₋ₓUₓB₁₂
G. Akopov, W. H. Mak, D. Koumoulis, H. Yin, B. Owens-Baird, M. T. Yeung,
M. H. Muni, S. Lee, I. Roh, Z. C. Sobell, P. L. Diaconescu, R. Mohammadi,
K. Kovnir, R. B. Kaner
Journal of the American Chemical Society 141, 9047–9062 (2019)
Growth of cobalt films at room temperature using sequential exposures of cobalt tricarbonyl nitrosyl and low energy electrons
Z. C. Sobell, A. S. Cavanagh, S. M. George
Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A 37, 060906 (2019)
Effects of Dodecaboride-Forming Metals on the Properties of Superhard Tungsten Tetraboride
G. Akopov, M. T. Yeung, I. Roh, Z. C. Sobell, H. Yin, W. H. Mak, S. I. Khan,
R. B. Kaner
Chemistry of Materials 30, 3559–3570 (2018)
Investigation of ternary metal dodecaborides (M₁M₂M₃)B₁₂ (M₁, M₂ and M₃ = Zr, Y, Hf and Gd)
G. Akopov, I. Roh, Z. C. Sobell, M. T. Yeung, R. B. Kaner
Dalton Transactions 47, 6683–6691 (2018)
Effects of Variable Boron Concentration on the Properties of Superhard Tungsten Tetraboride
G. Akopov, I. Roh, Z. C. Sobell, M. T. Yeung, L. Pangilinan, C. L. Turner,
R. B. Kaner
Journal of the American Chemical Society 139, 17120–17127 (2017)
Stabilization of LnB₁₂ (Ln = Gd, Sm, Nd, and Pr) in Zr₁₋ₓLnₓB₁₂ under Ambient Pressure
G. Akopov, Z. C. Sobell, M. T. Yeung, R. B. Kaner
Inorganic Chemistry 55, 12419–12426 (2016)
Superhard Mixed Transition Metal Dodecaborides
G. Akopov, M. T. Yeung, Z. C. Sobell, C. L. Turner, C. W. Lin, R. B. Kaner
Chemistry of Materials 28, 6605–6612 (2016)
Superhard W₀.₅Ta₀.₅B nanowires prepared at ambient pressure
M. T. Yeung, G. Akopov, C. W. Lin, D. J. King, R. L. Li, Z. C. Sobell,
R. Mohammadi, R. B. Kaner
Applied Physics Letters 109, 203107 (2016)
Patents
Granted
Mixed metal dodecaborides and uses thereof
US 12,590,011 B2 — granted 31 March 2026
R. B. Kaner, G. Akopov, M. T. Yeung, C. L. Turner, Z. C. Sobell, C. W. Lin
Mixed metal dodecaborides and uses thereof
US 11,168,001 B2 — granted 9 November 2021
R. B. Kaner, G. Akopov, M. T. Yeung, C. L. Turner, Z. C. Sobell, C. W. Lin
Pending
Electron-enhanced metal oxide atomic layer deposition
US 2025/0257457 A1 — application 18/746,960
S. M. George, J. C. Gertsch, Z. C. Sobell, H. Simka
Electron-enhanced atomic layer deposition (EE-ALD) methods and devices prepared by same
US 2024/0240317 A1 — application 18/096,668
S. M. George, Z. C. Sobell
Dissertation
Electron-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (EE-ALD)
Ph.D. thesis, University of Colorado Boulder (2022) — PDF, 7 MB