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); 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 composites 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. Dr. Igor Lubomirsky who joined the department opened an activity in the field of ferroelectric materials. The macroscopic properties of these materials depend upon the nature and structure of their internal interfaces, the regions where different phases in a material come together. 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 nuclear reaction analysis, force measurement techniques at Ångstrom surface separation, micromechanical testing techniques, electrochemistry, grazing angle X-ray diffraction and X-ray reflectivity using bright and collimated light from synchrotron sources, second harmonic generation, scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopy, grazing angle infrared spectroscopy, and unique applications of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Home Page: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/materials

D. Cahen

Molecule-based optoelectronics: (with R. Naaman and A. Shanzer) Molecular control over opto-electronic materials and devices How can electrons get across and along molecules; electron & information transfer / transport across /along molecules and molecular assemblies.

Solar Cells: (with G. Hodes) Materials & interface chemistry and physics of photovoltaic materials.

Materials and Defect Chemistry of Opto-Electronic Materials; (with K. Gartsman) nm-scale tailoring of optoelectronic materials and devices.

Home Page:http://www.weizmann.ac.il/materials/DAVID/david.html

M. Elbaum

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.

e-mail: michael.elbaum@weizmann.ac.il

R. Granek

Dynamics of active biomembranes and biopolymer networks. The effect of active transport on the motion of tagged particles in living cells (with M. Elbaum).

Undulation instability in lamellar phases under shear and the formation of onions.

Shear rupture of onions and emulsion droplets.

e-mail: rony.granek@weizmann.ac.il

G. Hodes

Electrochemical and chemical deposition of semiconductor dot QD films.

Surface vs. bulk properties of QDs.

Charge transfer in QDs.

Thin film photovoltaic cells.

J. Klein

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.

M. Lahav, L. Leiserowitz

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; molecular imprinting processes at interfaces. Design of processes for large-scale resolution of enantiomers by crystallization (with 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 (with 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 diffraction, Fresnel reflectivity, atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy, grazing angle I.R. spectroscopy (with I.Weissbuch).

Stereochemical studies on crystal nucleation of Cholesterol in 2-and 3-D at the water interface.

e-mail: meir.lahav@weizmann.ac.il

e-mail: leslie.leiserowitz@weizmann.ac.il

G. Levin

Surface modification of polymeric films to form selective layers for gas separation.

Expandable coating of disposable video imaging capsule for the gastrointestinal system (with Lev Bromberg).

"SMART" ion-selective gel that is sensitive to temperature, pH, light, and redox reactions.

e-mail: gideon.levin@weizmann.ac.il

I. Lubomirsky

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.

e-mail: igor.lubomirsky@weizmann.ac.il

S. Reich

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.

e-mail: shimon.reich@weizmann.ac.il

I. Rubinstein

Self-assembled organic monolayers on metal substrates.

Coordination-based monolayers, multilayers and dendrimers (with A. Shanzer).

UV/Vis spectroscopy of organic monolayers on ultrathin gold films (with A. Vaskevich).

Biological systems on metal surfaces (with B. Geiger, L. Addadi, J. Sperling).

Surface charging in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as a probe for mesoscopic systems (with H. Cohen).

Metal-filled porous alumina membranes as patterned surfaces (with A. Vaskevich).

Electrodeposited semiconductor quantum dots (with G. Hodes).

Metal underpotential deposition (UPD) in non-aqueous solutions (with A. Vaskevich).

e-mail: israel.rubinstein@weizmann.ac.il

Home Page: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/weg

S. Safran

Statistical physics of complex fluids: self-assembly of surfactants and amphiphilic polymers, elastic instabilities of biological cells, microemulsion structure and phase behavior, membranes with inclusions, electrostatic fluctuations, effects of surface modification on freezing.

Home Page: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/fluids/safran1.html

J. Sagiv

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 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (with R. Maoz).

Self-replicating multilayers. (with 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 (with R. Maoz, S. Cohen).

e-mail: jacob.sagiv@weizmann.ac.il

R. Tenne

Inorganic fullerenes: new materials with cage structure.

Photovoltaic materials: transition metal dichalcogenides.

Interfaces of diamond films.

e-mail: reshef.tenne@weizmann.ac.il

Home Page: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/msg/

H.D. Wagner

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 (with Steve Weiner and Lia Addadi).

e-mail: daniel.wagner@weizmann.ac.il

Home Page: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/wagner