Prof. T.A. Jung, Professor in Nanosciences
Short Biography
In 2009 Thomas had been appointed as a Titularprofessor in Nanoscience by the Faculty of Natural Sciences. In 2016/7 he held a visitor’s position at the National Institute of Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan, i.e. in their Materials Nano Architectonics program.
Management Experience
Thomas Jung took a Staff Scientist position at Paul Scherrer Institute in 1997, had been invited Scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (with F. J. Himpsel) and Invited Professor at University of Kyoto (with K. Matsushige). In 1998 he started as a group leader of the Nanolab at the University of Basel and in 2002 he was appointed group leader of the Molecular Nanoscience group at PSI. He was, for more than 10 years serving as a scientific committee member for the European Commission, is advisory board member for scientific journals and he organized and co-organized several conferences and workshops to promote scientific issues as well as the public understanding of science and technology. From 1999 to 2002 he acted as the President of the Swiss Physical Society.
Education and Research Experience:
Thomas Jung obtained a Diploma in Solid State Physics and Biophysics from ETH Zürich in 1987 after Thesis work on Photoemission (with H.C. Siegmann) and a Ph. D. in Solid State Physics and Surface Physics from the University of Basel in 1992. In his Ph. D. he developed dedicated Atomic Force Microscopy experiments for nanotribology and nanomechanics, magnetic imaging and for single flux line investigations above superconductors (with H. J. Guentherodt). He implemented AFM at PSI's Zürich Research Laboratory (formerly RCA Research, later CSEM Zurich) before joining IBM’s T. J. Watson Research Laboratory in Yorktown Heights NY (US) as a Post Doctoral Fellow in 1992. Here he worked on the electronic states of metallic wires and islands. (with Ph. Avouris and F. J. Himpsel) Between 1994 and 1997 he experimented with individual molecules, their self-assembly, positioning and their conformation at IBM's Zürich Research Laboratory in Rüschlikon, Switzerland (with J. K. Gimzewski).
Research Summary
The Nanolab group is investigating and building addressable nanostructures geared towards future applications in quantum science and technology and for specifically functional surfaces and materials.
Molecular Nanoarchitectures are manufactured by self-assembly, but also by templated growth and by site specific chemical reactions. At times they are also modified by supra-molecular and coordination chemistry as well as by atomic and molecular (re--) positioning. The properties of the assembled supramolecular structures are explored by local and non-local physico-chemical experiments (i.e. by local probes and X-ray photo-absorption and photo-electron spectroscopy, also using PSI’s unique light-sources). The goal is to explore cooperative, properties like long-range magnetic order as they emerge from the local, site-specific interaction.
Spectro- / microscopy correlation experiments are performed in the Nanolab, a unique facility to investigate complex samples by surface science techniques and Scanning Probe Microscopy and in close collaboration with PSI’s Molecular Nanoscience Group at the Swiss Light Source. ( https://www.psi.ch/lmn/molecular-nanoscience )