AWARDS
CEREMONY & RECEPTION
The AVS Awards
Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, November
2, 2011 at 6:15 p.m. in Room 204-206 of the
Nashville Convention Center to be followed
immediately by an Awards Reception in the
Grant Ballroom East of the Renaissance
Nashville Hotel. This year, AVS honors the
following awardees:
MEDARD W. WELCH AWARD
The Medard W. Welch Award was
established in 1969 to commemorate the
pioneering efforts of M.W. Welch in founding
and supporting AVS. It is presented to
recognize and encourage outstanding research
in the fields of interest to AVS. The award
consists of a cash award, a struck gold
medal, a certificate, and an honorary
lectureship at a regular session of the
Inter-national Symposium.
Dr. Wilson Ho,
University of California, Irvine, “for the
development and application of atomic scale
inelastic electron tunneling with the
scanning tunneling microscope.”
Wilson Ho spent his early
childhood in Changhwa, a city near the
middle of Taiwan, where he received his
primary school education. His parents
believed that there were more opportunities
abroad for their four children. In 1965,
when he reached the age of 12, his family
moved to Rokko, a suburb of Kobe, Japan, and
two years later they immigrated to San
Francisco, California. In 1971, he attended
the California Institute of Technology and
received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry
in 1975. He had fond memories of carrying
out research each summer with different
professors: Aron Kuppermann, Wilse Robinson,
William Goddard, and Henry Weinberg. Surface
science was a rapidly emerging field at that
time and he went to the University of
Pennsylvania to carry out Ph.D. studies
under the guidance of Professors Ward
Plummer and Robert Schrieffer. During this
period, he learned to appreciate the design
and fabrication of novel instruments and
became fully ingrained with the belief that
development of new techniques could lead to
discoveries in science. In 1979, he received
his Ph.D. degree in Physics and joined AT&T
Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical
Staff. In 1980, he started his academic
career as a faculty member in Physics at
Cornell University, prior to joining the
University of California, Irvine in 2000 as
Donald Bren Professor of Physics and
Chemistry.
His research has been
focused on understanding quantum phenomena
by studying molecules on solid surfaces. He
discovered impact scattering and a new
selection rule for high resolution electron
energy loss (vibrational) spectroscopy
(EELS). Recognizing the importance of time
resolved measurements, he constructed
multichannel electron detectors in EELS and
femto-second lasers for time resolved
studies on surfaces. Over the last 15 years,
he has been fascinated by precision
measurements on single atoms, molecules, and
artificial nanostructures, in particular
their interiors that can be uniquely probed
by homemade, low temperature (10 K to 700 mK),
ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling
microscopes (STM). The desire to push the
limits of measurement led to the detection
of vibrations of a single bond; single
molecule rotation, diffusion, intramolecular
vibrational relaxation, bond breaking and
formation; the synthesis of new molecules
and quantum structures by atomic and
molecular manipulation; single-molecule
optical phenomena with 0.1 nm resolution,
including fluorescence spectroscopy, optical
imaging, and cw and femtosecond
laser-induced electron transfer; as well as
single-spin excitation spectroscopy and
imaging, spin-vibronic coupling, and the
detection of spin-related properties in
molecules without unpaired electrons. His
research continues to focus on the
exploration of the interior of single
molecules and nanostructures and its
coupling to external perturbations by
photons, electrons, and magnetic fields (up
to 9 Tesla). He is currently extending the
STM into the frequency (up to 2 GHz) and
time (<30 fs) domains as well as high
energy resolution spectroscopy and imaging
(~100 µV or sub-cm-1). He is particularly
proud that some of his research results have
found their way into textbooks and the
successes his former students have achieved
in their careers
ALBERT NERKEN AWARD
The Albert Nerken Award was
established in 1984 by Veeco Instruments,
Inc. in recognition of its founder, Albert
Nerken, a founding member of AVS. Albert
Nerken’s work was in the field of high
vacuum and leak detection and he made
contributions to the commercial development
of the instrumentation. The Albert Nerken
Award is presented to recognize outstanding
contributions to the solution of
technological problems in areas of interest
to AVS. The award consists of a cash award,
a certificate and an honorary lectureship at
a regular session of the International
Symposium.
Dr.
John E. Rowe, North Carolina State
University, “for his fundamental role in the
development of electron energy loss
spectroscopy, photoemission and synchrotron
radiation techniques and their applications
to surface and interface studies.”
J.E. (Jack) Rowe is currently Research
Professor of Physics at NC State University
in the Department of Physics. Prior to
returning full-time to NC State, he held the
position of Deputy Director of the UNC
Institute for Advanced Materials,
Nanoscience and Technology where he was also
an Adjunct Professor of Physics and
Astronomy from late 2003 until early 2007.
Previously for nearly 8 years he was a
Senior Research Scientist (ST) with
specialty in Solid State Physics at the Army
Research Office (ARO) in Research Triangle
Park, NC where he was in charge of Special
Studies in Solid State Physics as a member
of the Physics Sciences Directorate. While
at ARO, he also was Associate Director of
Biological Science Division at ARO for ~1 ½
years. Rowe was the most cited scientist in
the U.S. Army (Over 5500 citations) and an
Army Research Lab Fellow as well as a
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Rutgers
University. He was also North American
Editor, Applied Surface Science, a member of
the editorial board of JVST, an active
member of AVS and the MSTG, and a fellow of
APS, AVS and AAAS. Rowe has used novel
approaches to photoemission spectroscopy and
microscopy of semiconductor surfaces,
spintronic materials, and complex oxides and
transition-metal surfaces; he is using
synchrotron radiation photo-emission studies
to determine electronic structure and
bonding of ultra-thin transition-metal
oxides and silicates, as well as other oxide
and oxy-nitride interfaces on Si(100) and
Si(111). He has also studied model
bimetallic catalyst systems, i.e., Pt, Pd,
Au and Ir films on W(211) and Ir(111) with
high resolution photoemission at the
Brookhaven NSLS. In addition, Rowe has
research interests in electronic structure
and microscopy of conducting carbon,
graphene, diamond, fullerene films and
carbon nanotubes. In 1995 while at Bell
Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, he discovered
the Photon Channeling Effect in the far VUV
and soft X ray spectral region where total
external reflection does not apply. He
demonstrated feasibility experiments in
collaboration with N.V. Smith and developed
a prototype scanning microscope to study
nanoscale electronic properties of diamond
films on Si(100), Au/GaAs interfaces, and
surface segregation structure of SiGe
alloys.
JOHN A. THORTON MEMORIAL AWARD AND LECTURE
The John A. Thornton Memorial Award
and Lecture was established in 1989 as a
memorial to Dr. John A. Thornton for his
devotion to science, his singular
contributions to the generation and study of
thin films, his effectiveness as an
educator, and his unfailing humility, which
won him the uncommon esteem and affections
of his colleagues. It is presented to
recognize outstanding research or
technological innovation in the areas of
interest to AVS, with emphasis on the fields
of thin films, plasma processing, and
related topics. The award is conferred
biennially. It consists of a cash award, a
commemorative plaque stating the nature of
the award, and an honorary lectureship at a
regular session of the International
Symposium.
Prof. Vincent M.
Donnelly, University of Houston, “for
innovation of surface and plasma diagnostics
to evaluate the complex kinetics of plasma
processing, and for the development of
fundamental reaction mechanisms to explain
that complexity.”
Vincent Donnelly is a John and Rebecca
Moores Professor in the Department of
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the
University of Houston. Prior to 2002, he was
a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at
Bell Laboratories, in Murray Hill, New
Jersey, and before that was a National
Research Council postdoctoral fellow at the
Naval Research Laboratory. His field of
research involves experimental studies of
plasmas used to manufacture integrated
circuits. He received a B.A. in Chemistry
from LaSalle University and a Ph.D. in
Physical Chemistry from the University of
Pittsburgh. His research includes studies of
plasmas and plasma etching, plasma-surface
interactions, new nano-patterning methods,
and atmospheric pressure micro-discharges.
Plasmas are widely used
to deposit and etch thin films in integrated
circuits. In plasma etching, bombardment by
positive ions allows patterns to be
transferred into thin films, making it
possible to fabricate integrated circuits
with device dimensions of the order of only
a hundred atoms. Such precise control has
been realized through experiments and
modeling, advancing our understanding of the
underlying plasma physics and chemistry.
Nonetheless, the lack of a more thorough
understanding and control continues to
hamper the extension of this process to ever
smaller, nanometer-scale dimensions. In
addition, plasmas have the potential for
“disruptive” alternatives to current methods
in other applications.
In his early work at Bell
Laboratories, Professor Donnelly studied
plasma etching reactions and mechanisms,
including the first measurements of the
reaction probability for fluorine atom
etching of silicon and SiO2. He
also was among the first to use
laser-induced fluorescence to probe
processing plasmas, and later introduced a
laser desorption method to probe surfaces
immersed in plasmas. He also refined optical
emission spectroscopy as a quantitative
technique for measuring selected reactant
species concentrations and electron
temperatures in plasmas.
In 2002 he moved to the
University of Houston’s Chemical Engineering
Department and began to explore a new
“Nanopantography” method for massively
parallel nanopatterning over large areas,
using a monoenergetic, broad ion beam
extracted from a DC-biased, pulsed
inductively-coupled plasma. Arrays of
electrostatic microlenses on the substrate
focus “beamlets” entering the lenses to
spots that write identical nanofeatures that
are 100X smaller than the diameters of the
lenses.
He has also introduced a
new “Spinning Wall” method for studying
plasma interactions with the chamber walls,
one of the more important yet least
understood aspects of plasma processing. His
method involves rapidly rotating a
cylindrical substrate embedded in the wall
of the plasma chamber, allowing its surface
to repeatedly move from the plasma to an
analysis chamber in times of less than 1
millisecond. He has used this method to
measure reaction probabilities for products
that form on prepared surfaces that are
exposed to chlorine or oxygen plasmas.
Professor Donnelly has
published 200 papers and holds 12 patents.
He is a member of the American Chemical
Society and the American Institute of
Chemical Engineers, and is a Fellow of AVS.
He was the recipient of the 2003 Plasma
Science and Technology Division’s Plasma
Priz
PETER MARK MEMORIAL AWARD
The Peter Mark Memorial Award was
established in 1979 in memory of Dr. Peter
Mark who served as Editor of the Journal of
Vacuum Science and Technology from 1975 to
1979. The award is presented to a young
scientist or engineer (35 years of age or
under) for outstanding theoretical or
experimental work, at least part of which
must have been published in an AVS Journal.
The award consists of a cash award, a
certificate, and an honorary lectureship at
a regular session of the International
Symposium.
Dr. Mohan Sankaran,
Case Western Reserve University, “for the
development of a tandem plasma synthesis
method to grow carbon nano-tubes with
unprecedented control over the nano-tube
properties and chirality.”
Mohan Sankaran is
currently an Associate Professor in the
Department of Chemical Engineering at Case
Western Reserve University (CWRU). He joined
CWRU in January 2005 after his post doctoral
research in the Department of Chemical
Engineering at the California Institute of
Technology (Caltech) where he also obtained
his Ph.D. with Prof. Konstantinos P. Giapis
in 2004. Mohan completed his B.S. in
Chemical Engineering at the University of
California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1998.
Mohan began his research
career at UCLA working with Prof. Harold G.
Monbouquette and Prof. Brian A. Korgel (now
at the University of Texas at Austin) on the
synthesis of doped cadmium sulfide
nanocrystals using phospholipid vesicles as
nanoreactors. As a Ph.D. student at Caltech,
Mohan received fellowships from the National
Science Foundation (NSF), Intel, and Applied
Materials, and the Constantin G. Economou
Prize which is awarded to the top Ph.D.
candidate in Chemical Engineering. Mohan’s
Ph.D. research explored a new class of
high-pressure plasmas, termed microplasmas,
for materials processing. He designed and
later patented a microplasma technology that
allows a plasma to be stably formed at
atmospheric pressure and near room
temperature. Through his studies,
microplasmas were found to be a convenient
source of electrons, ions, and radical
species and implemented in various
applications including non-lithographic
etching of silicon, deposition of diamond
films, and extreme ultraviolet radiation.
Additionally, in collaboration with Prof.
Richard P. Flagan, Mohan demonstrated that
microplasmas could be used as short
residence time reactors to synthesize
photoluminescent silicon nanoparticles.
In 2005, Mohan joined
CWRU to start an independent research
program focused on microplasmas for
nanomaterials synthesis and assembly. His
group is particularly interested in the
synthesis of metal and semiconducting
nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes,
semiconducting nanowires, and graphene, for
applications in electronics, optics, and
renewable energy. Mohan’s research addresses
challenges related to polydispersity,
purity, cost, scalability, and device
integration of nanomaterials. He has
successfully shown that size- and
compositionally-tuned bimetallic
nanocatalysts can be prepared by microplasma-assisted
dissociation of vapor precursors. This has
allowed chirally-enriched single-walled
carbon nanotubes to be produced and provided
insight into the mechanism for nanotube
nucleation. Recently, Mohan has developed an
electrochemical process based on
microplasmas as an electron source for
cathodic reduction. These studies have
opened up an entirely new approach to
nanomaterial synthesis and enabled the
fabrication of patterned and/or assembled
films of nanomaterials.
Mohan has been recognized
for his research activities with the NSF
CAREER Award in 2008, the Air Force Young
Investigator Program Award in 2009, the
Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award in
2010, and the CWRU School of Engineering
Research Award in 2010. He is the author of
22 peer-reviewed publications, 1 book
chapter, and the editor of a book currently
in press, and has given 38 invited talks at
conferences and universities.
Mohan has also received
the Glennan and Learning Fellowships at CWRU
for teaching and is actively involved in
several outreach activities. He has created
a new course in nano-technology for high
school students at Hathaway Brown in Shaker
Heights, OH, and mentors several high school
students each summer from Hathaway Brown
High School and Hawken High School in Gates
Mills, OH. He has helped establish an
international program with the University of
Botswana, which includes an NSF-funded
international research experience and a
study abroad course for undergraduate
students. Within AVS, Mohan is currently
serving as a member of the Executive
Committee in the Plasma Science and
Technology Division
GEORGE T. HANYO AWARD
The George T. Hanyo Award was
established in 1996 by the Kurt J.
Lesker Company in the memory of George
T. Hanyo, a highly skilled, long-time
employee of the company. The award is
presented to recognize outstanding
performance in technical support of
research or development in areas of
interest to AVS. It recognizes valuable
contributions made by persons outside
normal professional circles. Typical
nominees should have received mention in
the “Acknowledgments” sections of the
published papers but, with the possible
exception of papers describing new
apparatus or procedures, would rarely
have been authors or co-authors. The
award consists of a cash award and a
certificate setting forth the reasons
for the award.
Mr. Jonathan
Koch, NIST, “for the creative and
technical ingenuity in vacuum sciences
that has supported over 18 years of
innovation at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology.”
Jonathan Koch is a key member of the
team that maintains and operates the
Quantum Fabrication Facility within the
Quantum Devices Group in the Physical
Measurement Laboratory of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
in Boulder, CO. This Class 100 cleanroom
facility allows over 70 active users to
create unique superconducting integrated
circuits that support some of NIST’s
most advanced measurement research, in
areas such as Josephson Array Voltage
Standards, Johnson Noise Thermometry,
Quantum Information and Computing,
Single Photon Detection, atomic clocks,
and ultra-sensitive microcalorimeters
for astrophysical observation, cosmology
research, and x-ray and gamma-ray
spectrometers.
Mr. Koch began his career as an
automotive technician, 1975 to 1986. In
1992, he received a Bachelor of Science
degree in Engineering-Physics from the
Colorado School of Mines. Upon
graduation, Mr. Koch accepted a position
at NIST in Boulder in the
Electromagnetic Technology Division. An
ongoing mission of the Electromagnetic
Technology Division was the development
and operation of its Class 100 cleanroom
to meet the growing needs at NIST for
microcircuit fabrication. Mr. Koch's
technical automotive skills along with
his recently obtained scientific
knowledge made him a valuable asset in
the maintenance and expansion of this
Quantum Fabrication Facility.
Mr. Koch's primary
contributions to the Quantum Fabrication
Facility are ensuring that the
infrastructure and fabrication tools
remain safe and operational on a 24/7
basis. His responsibilities include
maintaining the environmental monitoring
and control systems, ensuring proper
operation of safety systems and alarms,
keeping the key fabrication tools in
correct operational condition, and
bringing on-line new tools to advance
the capabilities of the Quantum
Fabrication Facility. Key assets
exhibited by Mr. Koch are the
willingness and ability to attack an
extraordinarily broad range of
nonstandard and complex problems from a
variety of perspectives, and to apply
his scientific and mechanical knowledge
to develop novel, practical, and
efficient solutions to these problems.
His effectiveness in this role has made
Mr. Koch a highly valued team member,
keeping diverse projects on track and
advancing NIST’s measurement science
mission.
GRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS
2011 NATIONAL
STUDENT AWARD FINALISTS
There are five (5) top-level named
Graduate Student Awards and three (3)
Graduate Research Awards, described below.
The recipients of these awards is determined
after a general competition with all the
graduate research applicants and a
presentation to the Awards Committee at the
International Symposium.
The finalists are:
- Justice Alaboson,
Northwestern University
- Joseph E. Baio, Univ. of
Washington, Seattle
- John G. Gibbs, University of
Georgia
- Sondra Hellstrom, Stanford
University
- Andrew J. Lohn, Univ. of
California, Santa Cruz
- David A. Siegel, Univ. of
California, Berkeley
- Kangkang Wang, Ohio
University
- Bingjun Xu, Harvard
University
DOROTHY M. AND EARL S. HOFFMAN AWARD
The Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Award was
established in 2002 to recognize and
encourage excellence in graduate studies in
the sciences and technologies of interest to
AVS. It is funded by a bequest from Dorothy
M. Hoffman, who was president of AVS in 1974
and held other positions of responsibility
in the Society. The award consists of a cash
award, a certificate, and reimbursed travel
support to attend the International
Symposium.
NELLIE YEOH WHETTEN
AWARD
The
Nellie Yeoh Whetten Award was established in
1989, in the spirit of Nellie Yeoh Whetten,
to recognize and encourage excellence by
women in graduate studies in the sciences
and technologies of interest to AVS. A fund
to support the award was established by
Timothy J. Whetten, friends and family of
Nellie Yeoh Whetten, and AVS. The award
consists of a cash award, a certificate, and
reimbursed travel support to attend the
International Symposium.
RUSSELL AND SIGURD
VARIAN AWARD
The
Russell and Sigurd Varian Award was
established in 1982 to commemorate the
pioneering work of Russell and Sigurd
Varian. It is presented to recognize and
encourage excellence in graduate studies in
the sciences and technologies of interest to
AVS. The award is supported by Agilent
Technologies Vacuum Products Division. It
consists of a cash award, a certificate, and
reimbursed travel support to attend the
International Symposium.
DOROTHY M. AND EARL
S. HOFFMAN SCHOLARSHIPS
The
Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Scholarships
were established in 2002 to recognize and
encourage excellence in graduate studies in
the sciences and technologies of interest to
AVS. They are funded by a bequest from
Dorothy M. Hoffman. The scholarships consist
of a cash award, a certificate, and
reimbursed travel support to attend the
International Symposium.
2011 GRADUATE
RESEARCH AWARDS
The
Graduate Research Awards were established in
1984 to recognize and encourage excellence
in graduate studies in the sciences and
technologies of interest to AVS. Each
consists of a cash award, a certificate, and
reimbursed travel support to attend the
International Symposium.
AVS FELLOWS
The
membership level designated “Fellow of the
Society” was established in 1993 to
recognize members who have made sustained
and outstanding scientific and technical
contributions in areas of interest to AVS.
These contributions can be in research,
engineering, technical advancement, academic
education or managerial leadership. This is
a prestigious membership level to which
members are elected. AVS Fellows receive a
certificate.
- Andre
Anders, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
- David Cahen,
Weizmann Institute of Science
- James E.
Castle, University of Surrey
- Robert E.
Ellefson, REVac Consulting
- Timothy A.
Gessert, National Renewable Energy Lab.
- Satoshi
Hamaguchi, Osaka University
- Judith A.
Harrison, United States Naval Academy
- Sherman L.
Rutherford, Duniway Stockroom, Corp.
- Stephanie
Watts Butler, Texas Instruments
- Jory
Yarmoff, University of California,
Riverside
