James Hugh Gervase Owen
Dept. of Condensed Matter Physics
University of Geneva
24 Quai Ernest-Ansermet,
CH-1211 Switzerland
+41-22-379-3547
Current Position
June 2007 Dept. Condensed Matter Physics, University Geneva, Switzerland. "Maitre d'assistant" with Prof. Christoph Renner.
- Development of a novel form of spin-resolved STM,
- Application of this method to the properties of magnetic oxide materials and to 1D metallic atomic chains on silicon.
- Recently, our SNSF research proposal, “Local electronic and magnetic properties of metal atomic chains.” was accepted with a value of ca.$600k over 3 years for equipment and personnel.
Previous Employment
Nov. 2004-June 2007 International Centre for Young Scientists (ICYS), National Institute for Materials Science(NIMS), Tsukuba, Japan. ICYS Research Fellow in Nanomaterials.
- Centre designed to bring together Japanese and world-class foreign scientists.
- Centre operates entirely in English; ca. 40 fellows from around the world.
- Three years research fellowship with budget of $150,000 over three years.
- Research project to fabricate and characterise self-assembled nanowires, and 1D arrays of active molecules on Si(001).
July 2003 Oxford University, Materials Department, Oxford, U.K. Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Quantum Information Processing(QIP) LINK project entitled "Nanoelectronics at the Quantum Edge"
- The project aimed to implement a quantum logic device using spin-active metallofullerenes to realise the qubits; interactions are mediated by an encapsulating nanotube.
- Collaboration with Hitachi Cambridge Lab and National Physical Laboratory, Teddington (NPL).
- Development of SPM-based methods for the location and characterisation of isolated single-walled nanotubes, using AFM and STM.
- Analysis of fullerenes and fullerene dimers by STM.
- Supervision and mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students.
- Writing of reports and presentation of results at quarterly meetings and international conferences.
- Responsible for weekly group seminars.
- Extensive experience in facilities planning through building refurbishment committee.
March 2001 Japanese Science and Technology Agency Fellowship based at AIST (formerly ETL), Tsukuba, Japan. March 2001 - April 2002 as part of "Active Atomic-Scale Interconnects".
- My project aimed to fabricate nanowires from Bi and build devices from these wires.
- Learnt the process of computational modelling, using a tightbinding program to test hundreds of candidates structures for the Bi nanoline. Found the 'haiku' structure in Nov. 2001.
August 2000 Visiting Researcher at ETL, Agency for Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan
September 1998 UCLA and HRL Laboratories, Malibu, CA, USA as part of NSF/DARPA "Virtual Integrated Prototyping" project, Postdoctoral Researcher.
- Played key role in procurement and installation of UHV STM system at HRL labs.
- Operation and maintenance of ultra-high vacuum (UHV) molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system.
- Took initiative in promoting interaction between experimentalists and theoreticians to drive forward progress towards project goals.
September 1996 Postdoctoral researcher, Dept. Chemical Engineering, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
Interpersonal Skills
- management, supervision, teaching.
- Teaching Assistant in Crystallography during DPhil.
- Training of students and junior postdocs in UHV STM and other lab skills.
- Supervision of undergraduate and PhD students.
- Participation in building refurbishment committee.
- Control of research budget during ICYS Fellowship.
- Co-PI on SNSF proposal, “Local electronic and magnetic properties of metal atomic chains.”
Education
1993-1996 D.Phil. Materials Department, Oxford University. 'Diffusion and reaction of small adsorbates on silicon, using an elevated-temperature scanning tunnelling microscope (STM)' Viva date: 18th December 1996 PDF
1989-1993 Metallurgy and Materials Science, St. Anne's College, Oxford. 1-year Part II research project in STM of silicon (001) surface. B.A. (Hons.) 1st class.
