Heiko O. Jacobs
Assistant Professor

B.S., 1993, EE, University of Wuppertal, Germany
M.S., 1995, EE, University of Wuppertal, Germany
Dr. Sc. Techn., 1999, ME/EE, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Switzerland

Telephone: 612-626-7193

E-mail: hjacobs@ece.umn.edu
Web Page: http://www.ece.umn.edu/users/hjacobs/


Research areas: Micro- and Nanotechnology
In modern science and engineering, the borders between existing fields provide some of the best opportunities for research. In my research program I will focus on multidisciplinary,exploratory research in three areas: Non-Traditional Nanofabrication, Self-Assembly Based Manufacturing, and Nanometer-Scale Charge Based Printing (NanoXerography).

Non-Traditional Nanofabrication. In my earliest work in this area we concentrated on the development of scanning probe microscopy and scanning probe lithography to study and modify electrical properties on a nanometer scale. Today scanning probe allows fabricating prototypes of devices such as single electron transistors. As a new direction, I suggest a parallel strategy that is 5 orders of magnitude faster. Instead of using a single contact to expose the surface we use a flexible conductive stamp to form multiple contacts of different size and shape.

Self-Assembly Based Manufacturing. Nature employs self-assembly to create life. Self-assembly to generate materials from atomic, molecular or supermolecular structures is well know in material science, chemistry, and biochemistry.  Compared to the extensive studies in these areas, little work has been reported on employing self-assembly on a larger length scale. Our goal is to develop, study, and exploit self-assembly processes as a new manufacturing element in engineering to assemble and package functional hybrid devices in two- and three dimensions.

Nanometer-Scale Charge Based Printing (NanoXerography). In xerographic printers toner particles become trapped at charged areas. In NanoXerogaphy we study the limits of xerographic printing, i.e. fabricate high-resolution charge patterns and investigate their use to organize nanoparticles on surfaces. In the first experiments we achieved a resolution of 2.5 micrometers (20 times the resolution of the best xerographic printer).


Selected Publications

"Fabrication of a Cylindrical Display by Patterned Assembly", H. O. Jacobs, A. R. Tao, A. Schwartz, D. H. Gracias, and G. M. Whitesides, Science 296, 323 (2002).

"Sub-Micron Patterning of Charge in Thin-Film Electrets", H. O. Jacobs and G. M. Whitesides, Science 291, 1763 (2001)

"Measuring and Modifying the Electric Surface Potential Distribution on a Nanometer Scale: a Powerful Tool in Science and Technology", H. O. Jacobs and A. Stemmer, Surf. Interface Anal. 27, 1999, 361 (1999).

"Resolution and Contrast in Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy", H. O. Jacobs, P. Leuchtmann, O. J. Homan, and A. Stemmer, Journal of Applied Physics 84, 1168 (1998).