Dr. Martin SETVIN

H-Index: 18

Vienna University of Technology, Austria, EU

Position: Assistant professor at the Institute of Applied Physics, Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Specialization: noncontact Atomic force microscopy; Oxide surfaces; Surface chemistry; Photochemistry; Materials electronic structure

At the NANOCON´19 conference Dr. Setvin will present an invited lecture in the Session E “Characterization of oxide surfaces by combined AFM/STM: Opportunities and challenges”.  

Personal Background and Education:
Dr. Martin Setvin (*1982, Pilsen, Czech Republic) received his M.Sc. degree (Physics of Surfaces and Ionized Media) in 2006 from Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and the Ph.D. degree in Physics of Nanostructures in 2012 from the same University. In January 2008-November 2008 he stayed at the National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan (under International Joint Graduate Fellowship program; host researcher: Prof. Kazushi Miki). In June 2009 - February 2012 he held a researcher position in the Nanosurf group of Dr. Pavel Jelinek at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. From March 2012 - July 2015 he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Vienna University of Technology (Surface physics group of Prof. Ulrike Diebold. Since July 2015 he is Assistant professor at the Vienna University of Technology. In June 2018 he finished habilitation at the Vienna University of Technology in Experimental Physics. 

Research focus and results:
The noncontact Atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM): Recent developments in this experimental technique offer intriguing opportunities in materials research. nc-AFM offers for example molecular and submolecular resolution, enhanced capabilities of chemical identification, or measurement and control of the charge state of species adsorbed at surfaces. These capabilities offer a new angle of view on complex materials, which were often difficult to study by other experimental methods. The main aim of Martin Setvin is developing methodology for understanding the surfaces of binary and ternary oxides, and pointing out the opportunities offered by the nc-AFM technique. The main directions are:

• TiO2 anatase and rutile - these are well-understood oxides and serve as a substrate for testing the capabilities and limitations of the q-Plus technique.
• Cubic perovskites KTaO3 (001) and SrTiO3 (001) - The surface science of ternary oxides is relatively poorly understood compared to binary oxides. He has recently developed a procedure for preparing nice (1×1) bulk-terminated surfaces of these materials. Such surfaces offer an interesting playground for investigating the material stability, surface chemistry, electronic structure, incipient ferroelectricity, etc.
• Scintillating materials (Eu-doped alkali halides) - scintillation of these materials is closely related to defect chemistry of the scintillation centres. nc-AFM allows understanding the structure and properties of these defects.
• Besides these topics, he collaborates on the research binary oxides (In2O3, Fe3O4, Fe2O3, Ca2Ru3O7, SnO2, etc.)

Summary of publication and research activity:
He has co-authored more than 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals (>1200 citations); H-index: 18.

Back