Mark C. Hersam

Professor, Department of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering
PhD (2000) University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
m-hersam@northwestern.edu

Areas of Interest:

Scanning probe microscopy instrumentation development
Silicon-based molecular electronics
Conductive scanning probe microscopy nanopatterning
Imaging soft materials with scanning probe microscopy
Single walled carbon nanotube optical properties
Nanoscale organic light emitting diodes
Molecular rotors

Mark Hersam applies the development of structure property processing performance relationships to hybrid hard and soft materials at the nanometer length scale.  In many cases, the objective is to apply organic molecules to inorganic substrates in an effort to increase the functionality of the resulting hybrid system.  In other instances, an experimental technique that was originally developed for inorganic materials is adapted for the study of organic or biological systems. Overall, the ongoing research projects range from fundamental studies, e.g., single molecule charge transport measurements using UHV STM, to applied technology development, e.g., optimization of carbon nanotube materials for electronic and optical devices.