Dongchen's research interests lie in the area of experimental condensed matter physics and material physics, focusing on creating, understanding, and controlling at nanoscale the surfaces and interfaces of functional materials to develop new technologies and material platforms for the next-generation devices. He is particularly interested in using advanced synchrotron light to examine important interface phenomena and physics essential to enable electronic devices based on emerging materials including diamond and organic semiconductors. Dongchen has published more than 160 articles in internationally refereed journals including Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Materials, Physical Review Letters, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Advanced Materials, with an H-index of 47 (Google Scholar).