Professor

B.S., Electrical Engineering, 1996 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

M.Phil., Physics, 1997 University of Cambridge, UK

Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, 2000, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Contact Info

 

Single Molecule Sensing, Characterization, and Actuation

     The Hersam Research Group applies the fundamental paradigm of materials science and engineering (i.e., 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 (e.g., silicon-based molecular electronics and sensing).  In other instances, an experimental technique that was originally developed for inorganic materials is adapted for the study of organic or biological systems (e.g., probing ion channels in living cells using conductive atomic force microscopy).  This highly interdisciplinary research is enabled by a sophisticated suite of instrumentation including ultra-high vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and additional equipment for studying the electrical and optical properties of materials.  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).  Alumni of the Hersam Research Group have enjoyed successful careers in a variety of fields (e.g., nanotechnology, biotechnology, and information technology) at a diverse range of institutions (e.g., academia, industry, and national laboratories).

Prof. Hersam's Research Group
Computational and Bioinformatics Program Participant

Awards and Associations

AVS Peter Mark Award, 2006
TMS Robert Lansing Hardy Award, 2006
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 2005
Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 2005
Army Research Office Young Investigator Award, 2005
Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, 2005
Teacher of the Year in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2003
National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2002
Arnold and Mabel Beckman Young Investigator Award, 2001
IBM Distinguished Fellowship, 1999
National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 1997
British Marshall Scholarship, 1996

Selected Publications

N. L. Yoder, N. P. Guisinger, M. C. Hersam, R. Jorn, C.-C. Kaun, and T. Seideman, “Quantifying desorption of saturated hydrocarbons from silicon with quantum calculations and scanning tunneling microscopy,” Physical Review Letters, 97, 187601 (2006).

M. S. Arnold, A. A. Green, J. F. Hulvat, S. I. Stupp, and M. C. Hersam, “Sorting carbon nanotubes by electronic structure via density differentiation,” Nature Nanotechnology, 1, 60 (2006).

C. R. Kinser, M. J. Schmitz, and M. C. Hersam, “Kinetics and mechanism of atomic force microscope field induced oxidation on hydrogen-passivated silicon in inert organic solvents,” Advanced Materials, 18, 1377 (2006).

N. P. Guisinger, N. L. Yoder, and M. C. Hersam, “Probing charge transport at the single molecule level on silicon by using cryogenic ultra-high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 102, 8838 (2005).

L. S. C. Pingree, M. C. Hersam, M. M. Kern, B. J. Scott, and T. J. Marks, “Spatially resolved electroluminescence of operating organic light-emitting diodes using conductive atomic force microscopy,” Applied Physics Letters, 85, 344 (2004).

N. P. Guisinger, M. E. Greene, R. Basu, A. S. Baluch, and M. C. Hersam, “Room temperature negative differential resistance through individual molecules on silicon surfaces,” Nano Letters, 4, 55 (2004).