Mikhail Iosifovich Katsnelson (russian: Михаил Иосифович Кацнельсон; born 10 August 1957) is a Dutch professor of

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

of Russian descent. He works at

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century D ...

where he specializes in theoretical

solid state physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the l ...

and

many-body The many-body problem is a general name for a vast category of physical problems pertaining to the properties of microscopic systems made of many interacting particles. ''Microscopic'' here implies that quantum mechanics has to be used to provid ...

quantum physics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, qua ...

Early life

Katsnelson was born in

Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk ( rus, Магнитого́рск, p=məɡnʲɪtɐˈɡorsk, ) is an industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Its population ...

, Russia. From 1972 to 1977 he attended and then graduated from the

Ural State University The Ural State University (russian: Урáльский госудáрственный университéт и́мени А.М. Гóрького, , often shortened to USU, УрГУ) is a public university located in the city of Yekaterinburg, Sve ...

in Sverdlovsk. In 1980 he obtained his Ph.D. from Institute of Metal Physics in the same place where his advisor was Serghey V. Vonsovsky. In 1985 he defended his thesis for his Doctor of Science degree called ''Strong electron correlations in transition metals, their alloys and compounds'' and from 1990 to 1998 became

Max-Planck-Institute The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (german: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of Germany, German research ins ...

visiting professor.

Career

From 2004 to 2007 Katsnelson worked with many Russian and Dutch physicists on the

nitrogen dioxide Nitrogen dioxide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is one of several nitrogen oxides. is an intermediate in the industrial synthesis of nitric acid, millions of tons of which are produced each year for use primarily in the producti ...

and discovered that its closed shell dimer creates only weak doping which is also known as

density of states In solid state physics and condensed matter physics, the density of states (DOS) of a system describes the number of modes per unit frequency range. The density of states is defined as D(E) = N(E)/V , where N(E)\delta E is the number of states i ...

in a graphene. He also discovered that density of states is ideal for chemical sensing and explained its single molecule detection. On 23 September 2007 he along with Annalisa Fasolino have proven that

chemical bond A chemical bond is a lasting attraction between atoms or ions that enables the formation of molecules and crystals. The bond may result from the electrostatic force between oppositely charged ions as in ionic bonds, or through the sharing of ...

ing in

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

is caused by setting

ripple Ripple may refer to: Science and technology * Capillary wave, commonly known as ripple, a wave traveling along the phase boundary of a fluid ** Ripple, more generally a disturbance, for example of spacetime in gravitational waves * Ripple (electri ...

thermal fluctuations In statistical mechanics, thermal fluctuations are random deviations of a system from its average state, that occur in a system at equilibrium.In statistical mechanics they are often simply referred to as fluctuations. All thermal fluctuations b ...

to 80

angstrom The angstromEntry "angstrom" in the Oxford online dictionary. Retrieved on 2019-03-02 from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/angstrom.Entry "angstrom" in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Retrieved on 2019-03-02 from https://www.m ...

. In 2010 Katsnelson worked with physicists from India such as Rashid Jalil, Rahul R. Nair, and nanotechnologist Fredrik Schedin of

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

and have discovered that

fluorine Fluorine is a chemical element with the symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen and exists at standard conditions as a highly toxic, pale yellow diatomic gas. As the most electronegative reactive element, it is extremely reacti ...

atoms are attached to the carbon of the graphene therefore creating a new version called

fluorographene Fluorographene (or perfluorographane, graphene fluoride) is a fluorocarbon derivative of graphene.''Properties of Fluorinated Graphene Films'' It is a two dimensional carbon sheet of sp3 hybridized carbons, with each carbon atom bound to one ...

that can be stable in the air with a temperature of . In 2012 he and his colleagues have used prototype device which contained graphene

heterojunction A heterojunction is an interface between two layers or regions of dissimilar semiconductors. These semiconducting materials have unequal band gaps as opposed to a homojunction. It is often advantageous to engineer the electronic energy bands in many ...

s which was combined with either thin

boron nitride Boron nitride is a thermally and chemically resistant refractory compound of boron and nitrogen with the chemical formula BN. It exists in various crystalline forms that are isoelectronic to a similarly structured carbon lattice. The hexagonal ...

molybdenum disulfide Molybdenum disulfide (or moly) is an inorganic compound composed of molybdenum and sulfur. Its chemical formula is . The compound is classified as a transition metal dichalcogenide. It is a silvery black solid that occurs as the mineral molybdenit ...

which was used as a vertical transport barrier. During the experiment, the room temperature was set from ≈50 and ≈10,000 and they prove that using such prototypes is beneficial for high-frequency operations and large-scale integrations. Since 2014 Katsnelson is member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

Awards

Lenin Komsomol Prize Lenin Komsomol Prize () was a Soviet annual award for the best works in science, engineering, literature or art carried out by young authors of age not exceeding 33 years. Komsomol was the abbreviated name of The Communist Union of Youth (Russia ...

(1988) *

Spinoza Prize The Spinoza Prize ( nl, Spinozapremie) is an annual award of 2.5 million euro, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher ...

(2013)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Katsnelson, Mikhail 1957 births Living people 21st-century Dutch physicists 20th-century Russian physicists People from Magnitogorsk Spinoza Prize winners Theoretical physicists Academic staff of Radboud University Nijmegen Recipients of the Lenin Komsomol Prize Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Ural State University alumni