Department of Materials and Interfaces 

Reshef Tenne, Head

The scientific research of the department focuses on the understanding and design of functional materials with unique physical and chemical properties. This includes a broad range of materials, such as solids with extended bonding displaying cooperative properties (superconductors and semiconductors); nanomaterials, like carbon nanotubes, and inorganic nanotubes; ultra thin ferroelectric films; solids and liquids with mainly molecular bonding, such as complex fluids and molecular crystals; ultra-thin organic, inorganic and biological films and assemblies; size-quantized nanoparticles and fulleroids; molecularly functionalized semiconductors; metals and polymers, including polymer brushes and polymers for cloud seeding; and nanocomposites displaying unique mechanical properties. Biopolymer mechanics and molecular transport phenomena in the cell; imitation of biological transport strategies. Planned self-assembly of novel nanostructures on scanning-probe-patterned organic monolayer templates. Three new research groups have been established: Dr. Ernesto Joselvich-carbon nanotubes and scanning probe microscopy; Dr. Roy Bar-Ziv-studies the mechanisms of biological transcription on silicon chip using microfabriction and microfluidics. Dr. Leeor Kronik- uses density functional theory to study clusters; nanocrystalline material and optical phenomena in semiconductors.
Several groups in the department are developing novel theoretical and experimental methodologies for probing liquid-liquid, solid-liquid, solid-solid, solid-gas and liquid-gas interfaces. These include force measurements techniques at �ngstrom surface separation; nanomechanical testing techniques; electrochemistry; grazing angle X-ray diffraction and X-ray reflectivity using bright and collimated light from synchrotron sources; second harmonic generation; optical tweezers; scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopy, grazing angle infrared spectroscopy; and unique applications of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Two new research facilities, which are used extensively by the department scientists, have been completed this year, i.e the high resolution electron microscopy laboratory, and the combined clean rooms/microfabrication/biological specimen manipulation laboratory.

D. Cahen 
 

Molecule - controlled electronics and optoelectronics
D. Cahen, collaborations with M. Sheves, R. Naaman, A. Shanzer, C. Sukenik (Bar Ilan), F. Diederich (ETHZ)

1.  Contacts between molecules & electronic materials

2.  Unique molecular effects at solid interfaces, NDR and more

3.  Preparation, characterization and device use of molecules at Interfaces

4.  Metal-Molecular Monolayer-Semiconductor Junctions

Electron transport across molecules and molecular layers.
D. Cahen, collaboration with M.Sheves

1.  How can electrons pass through molecules and molecular layers?

2.  How can information pass across supposedly

Poly- and nano-crystalline solar cells, their chemistry and physics.
D. Cahen, collaborations with G. Hodes, S. Cohen, K. Gartsman,A. Zaban (Bar Ilan U)

1.  Solid State & Surface Chemistry of Photovoltaic Materials & Interfaces

2.  How and why do nanocrystalline solar cells work?

3.  Molecular surface control over polycrystalline solar cells.

M. Elbaum
michael.elbaum@weizmann.ac.il

Single-molecule manipulations using optical tweezers.

Dynamics of DNA uptake into the cell nucleus.

Structure and function of the nuclear pore complex (with Z. Reich): application of atomic force microscopy and advanced optical spectroscopies.

Anomalous diffusion in polymer networks and living cells (with R. Granek).

Organization of forces driving cell movements (with A. Bershadsky): optical force measurements and particle tracking studies; influence of cell biochemistry on biophysical forces.

Novel surface-patterning lithographies.

G. Hodes
gary.hodes@weizmann.ac.il

Electrochemical and chemical deposition of nanocrystalline semiconductor quantum dot (QD) films.

Surface modification of semiconductor nanocrystals.

Charge transfer in QDs.

Thin film photovoltaic cells.

J. Klein
jacob.klein@weizmann.ac.il

Experimental studies of surface structure and interactions, and of the behavior of confined simple and polymeric fluids.

Surface-forces-measurement techniques at angstrom surface separations; polymers as molecular lubricants; properties of thin liquid films including aqueous electrolytes and polyelectrolytes.

Nuclear reaction analysis investigations of polymer interfaces. Interfacial structure and phase equilibrium between incompatible polymers; studies of transport and self-diffusion in bulk polymers.

Wetting and stability of thin films; use of polymer surfactants to modify surface and interfacial behaviour.

L. Kronik
 

Spintronic materials: electronic and magnetic properties

Organic semiconductors: structural and electronic properties
L. Kronik, E. Umbach, C. Heske (U. Wurzburg, Germany)

Quantum dots: optical properties

Site-specific photoelectron spectroscopy: predicting & explaining experiment
L. Kronik, J. C. Woicik (NIST, USA)

Nano-clusters: non-equilibrium effects

M. Lahav
meir.lahav@weizmann.ac.il

Chirality in Two-Dimensions (2-D) at Interfaces: spontaneous resolution in two dimensions on liquid and solid surfaces; generation of homo-chiral peptides under prebiotic conditions. Amplification of chirality at interfaces by self-replicating processes;
M. Lahav, L. Leiserowitz, I. Weissbuch

Ordered hybrid organic/inorganic composites for opto-electronics.Chemical approach for the design of organized composites of inorganic Q-particles and organic molecular wires.
M. Lahav, L. Leiserowitz, E. Lifshitz Technion

Design of auxiliaries for crystal growth. Control of crystal polymorphism, etching, twinning, etc.; growth of crystals at interfaces and from monolayers; Structural studies of 2-D and 3-D solid and liquid surfaces and interfaces: Grazing incidence X-ray d
M. Lahav, L. Leiserowitz, I.Weissbuch

Stereochemical studies on crystal nucleation of Cholesterol in 2-and 3-D at the water interface.
M. Lahav, L. Leiserowitz

I. Lubomirsky
igor.lubomirsky@weizmann.ac.il

Properties of Ultra-Thin Self-Supported Crystalline Oxide Films.

Infrared focal plane array based on freestanding pyroelectric films.

Oxygen ion transport in thin freestanding films.

S. Reich
shimon.reich@weizmann.ac.il

Localized high Tc superconductivity was obtained on Na+ doped surface of WO3 crystals.

Cs+ and Rb+ surface doping is used to induce surface superconductivity in various crystallographic phases of WO3.

I. Rubinstein 
israel.rubinstein@weizmann.ac.il

Novel nanomaterials prepared by template synthesis in nanoporous alumina membranes.
I. Rubinstein, A. Vaskevich

Nanostructures based on surface-modified nanoparticles.
I. Rubinstein, A. Vaskevich

Chemical and biological sensing using transmission surface plasmon resonance (T-SPR) spectroscopy.
I. Rubinstein, A. Vaskevich

Coordination self-assembly of nanostructures comprising organic / inorganic building blocks.
I. Rubinstein, A. Vaskevich

Self-assembled supramolecular systems on metal substrates.
I. Rubinstein, A. Shanzer, A. Vaskevich

S. Safran 
sam.safran@weizmann.ac.il

Statistical physics of soft matter:

1.  Membrane self-assembly of surfactants, lipids, and amphiphilic polymers.

2.  Coupling of shape and shear elasticity in membranes and in biological cells.

3.  Microemulsions: structure, phase behavior, dynamics.

4.  Membranes: tension induced fusion, inclusions in membranes.

5.  Fluctuation induced interactions in charged colloidal and membrane systems.

J. Sagiv
jacob.sagiv@weizmann.ac.il

Studies on novel types of artificial organic-inorganic hybrid superlattice structures with intercalated metal or semiconductor nanoparticles, including collaborative work on characterization by synchrotron X-ray scattering, scanning probe microscopies and
J. Sagiv, R. Maoz

Self-replicating multilayers.
J. Sagiv, R. Maoz

Planned surface self-assembly of nanoscopic organic-inorganic architectures using a scanning probe initiated process of non-destructive nanoelectrochemical patterning of stable self-assembled monolayers.
J. Sagiv, R. Maoz, S. Cohen

R. Tenne
reshef.tenne@weizmann.ac.il

Inorganic nanotubes and inorganic fullerene-like materials: new materials with cage structure.

D. Wagner 
daniel.wagner@weizmann.ac.il

Interface micromechanics in composite materials, including characterization by micro-Raman spectroscopy.

Mechanics of single- and multi-wall carbon nanotubes, nanofibers and their composites.

Mechanics of biological composites.
D. Wagner, S. Weiner, L. Addadi

 This file was last modified on 03/06/2012 13:42:07

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