Ø   Education

Ø   Employment History

Ø   Research Interests

Ø   Collaborators

Ø   Professional Activities

Ø   Invited Lectures

Ø   Publications

Ø   Patents

 

 

 
 
 

Education

Nov 1993        Ph.D. in Chemistry

-Nov 1996       State University of Milano, Milan (Italy)

 

Sept 1986        Laurea in Chemistry (110/110 with honors)

-May 1993       State University of Milano, Milan (Italy)

 

Sept 1981        Diloma in Industrial Chemistry

June 1986       A. Righi Institute, Bergamo (Italy)

 

Employment History

 

  Current Employment

 

March 2008     Associate Professor Adjunct, The Department of Chemistry and the Material Research Center,

-Present          Northwestern University, Evanston (IL), USA.

 

March 2008     Co-Founder and CTO, Polyera Corporation, Skokie (IL),USA.

-Present

 

  Research Experience

 

May 2005        Research Associate Professor, The Department of Chemistry and the Material Research Center,

-March 2008   Northwestern University, Evanston (IL), USA.

 

Oct 2005         VP for Research, Polyera Corporation, Skokie (IL),USA.

- March 2008

 

Jan 2002         Research Assistant Professor, The Department of Chemistry and the Material Research Center,

-Apr 2005        Northwestern University, Evanston.

 

Aug 2002         Visiting Researcher, Bell Laboratories

-Dec 2002       Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill.

 

Jan 2000         Research Associate, Department of Material Science

-Dec 2001       University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan.

 

Feb 2000         Visiting Assistant Professor, The Material Research Center

-Sept 2000      Northwestern University, Evanston.

 

Sept 1998        Postdoctoral Fellow in Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry

-Dec 1999       Northwestern University, Evanston.

 

April 1997        Postdoctoral Fellow in Physical Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry

-Aug 1998       University of California, Berkeley.

 

Nov. 1996       Research Assistant in Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry

-March 97       State University of Milano, Milan.

 

Research Interests

 

1.   Plastic Electronics. A rapidly advancing area of technological and basic research is “plastic electronics”-- in particular, organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) based on small molecule and polymer semiconductor and dielectric materials. OTFTs based on such advanced components have been proposed for a number of uses, such as flexible/bendable displays for commercial and military applications (rolling maps, soldier electronic textile), radio-frequency identification tags, smart cards, and sensors. The main goal of the present research is to design, prepare, and characterize novel organic semiconductors and dielectrics for the above applications that will compete with the current inorganic technology based on silicon chips.

 

2    .Electro-Optic Materials and Devices. Present-generation military and civilian radiofrequency (RF) systems are severely challenged by the lack of compact, lightweight, inexpensive components capable of efficient broadband RF analog signal distribution and processing. This research line focuses on developing and implementing unique, ultra-high response materials systems for very low-voltage, ultra-high-speed electro-optic devices (modulators, switches). The closely integrated focal areas are: a) Ultra-fast response components for molecular photonics materials and devices. b) Ultra-high response, intrinsically acentric self-assembled superlattice (SAS) materials. c) Electro-optic modulators fabricated with the above materials and unconventional electrode materials for use in the above systems.

 

3    .Organic Materials for Multiphotonics. Organic molecules which can simultaneously absorb two or more photons to be promoted to their excited states have recently been the subject of much research work in the scientific community due to the growing interest in advanced photonic applications such as two-photon laser scanning fluorescence microscopy, photodynamic therapy, optical limiting, three-dimensional optical storage, microfabrication, and upconverted lasing. Many of these applications take advantage of the fact that the two-photon absorption (TPA) activity scales quadratically with the intensity of the incident laser radiation, leading to improved 3D resolution (as much as the 4th power). Some of these fields are further based on the fluorescence properties of the two-photon excited molecule. Finally, one important aspect is given by the fact that common organic dyes are linearly transparent to the wavelength of the incident radiation, providing increasing penetration in common biological tissues and organic coatings. In order to meet market criteria for these applications, molecules with large TPA cross-sections (large efficiency) are required and are the focus of this research area.

 

4    .Contrast Agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). MRI is a diagnostic procedure that uses magnetic fields and computers to create images of certain areas inside the body, such as the brain, joints, breast, liver, and other soft tissues. Unlike x-rays, it does not involve ionizing radiation. Contrast agents (also called paramagnetic agents) are used to help provide a clear picture during MRI and therefore help diagnose problems or diseases such as cancer and cardiopathologies. One of the more commonly employed contrast agents, gadopentetate, has paradoxically poor contrast efficiency (~ 5 in a scale of 1-100). This research project targets the synthesis of new lanthanide contrast agents based on heteroaromatic ligands with much higher contrast efficiency for better imaging of tissue.

Collaborators

 

I am infinitely grateful to the following current collaborators and to their research groups:

Prof. Tobin J. Marks (Northwestern. U.), Prof. Ananth Dodabalapur (U. Texas-Austin), Prof. Giorgio Pagani (U. Milano-Bicocca), Dr. Michele Muccini (ISOC-CNR Bologna),  Prof. Alberto Girlando (U. Parma), Prof. Mark Ratner (Northwestern U.), Prof. Elena Cariati (U. Milano) , Prof. Renato Ugo (U. Milano),  Prof. Luca Beverina (U. Milano-Bicocca), Prof. David Janes (Purdue U.), Prof. John A. Rogers (UIUC),  Prof. Peter Ye (Purdue U.), Prof. Teodormino Lopez Navarrete (U. Malaga), Prof. Juan Casado (U. Malaga), Prof. Alberto Vacca (U. Firenze), Prof. Michael Wasielewski (Northwestern U.), Prof. Milko van der Boom (Weizmann Institute of Scienze), Prof. A. Taticchi (U. Perugia), Prof. Emanuela Licandro (U. Milano), Dr. Franco Dinelli (CNR-Pisa), Prof. Maria A. Loi (U.  Groningen), Prof. A. Morpurgo (Delft U.), Dr. Dean Delongchamp (NIST), Dr. G. Archetti (U. Kaiserslautern), Dr. Geetha Dholakia (NASA Aims Center), Prof. Sang Ho (Northwestern.U.), Prof. Ming Chou Chen (National Central U.), Prof. Paul Heremans (IMEC)

 

Professional Activities

 

  Research Supervision

 

·    Postdoctoral Researchers

Elisabetta Annoni (2003-2004), Gang Lu (2004-2006), Zhemin Wang (2005-present), Shinji Ando (2006-present), Paul Byrne (2006-present), Shaofeng Lu (2006-2007), Hyun Sung Kim (2007-present)

·     Ph.D. Students

Melissa Mushrush (1999-2003), Goeffrey R. Hutchison (2000-2004), Myung-Han Yoon (2001-2006), Sharon Koh (2003-2007), Joseph Letizia (2004-present), David Frattarelli (2004-present), Sara DiBenedetto (2005-present), Hyuk-Jin Choi (2005-2006), Hakan Usta (2005-present), Choongik Kim (2006-present), Young-Geun Ha (2007-present), Jangdae Youn (2007-present)

·     Masters Students

Silvia Terenghi (1995), Igor Maino (1995), Maurizio Iannone (1996), Giovanni Conca (1996), Elena Scaltritti (1997), Graziano Archetti (2001)

·     Summer/Visiting Students

Michael A. Oar (2003), Sara DiBenedetto (2004), Jonathan Rivnay (2005), Ricio Lopez (2005), Michele Schiavo (2006), Roberto Macchi (2007), Selvaggia Landi (2007), Fabio Silvestri (2008)

 

  International Journals Reviewed for

 

Angewandte Chemie, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Applied Physics Letters, Chemical Communications, Chemistry of Materials, European Journal of Organic Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Applied Physics, Journal of Organic Chemistry, Journal of Materials Chemistry, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Journal of Chemical Physics, Langmiur, Macromolecules, Materials Science & Engineering B, Nature Materials, Organometallics, Organic Electronics, Synthetic Communications, Tetrahedron, Tetrahedron Letters

 

  Services

 

2005    Invited Review Panelist for MIUR Research Strategic Programs

2006    Invited Review Panelist for Austrian Science Foundation (FWF)

2006    Invited Review Panelist for NSF International Research Fellowship Program

2007    Invited Review Panelist for ACS-PRF fund

2007    Invited Review Panelist for INSTM Prisma Project

2008    Invited Review Panelist for Austrian Science Foundation (FWF)

2008    Invited Review Panelist for NSF

2008    Invited Review Panelist for the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong

 

  Awards and Professional Affiliations

 

1986    Farchemia award to the best student in industrial chemistry

1993    Italian Chemical Society, Organic Division

1996    Summer School A. Corbella participation award

1997    NIH grant support, University of California, Berkeley

1998    Material Research Society

1999    American Chemical Society

2002    International Microelectronic and Packing Society

2003    INSTM (National Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials) participation award.

 

  Conference Organization

 

233rd ACS National Meeting, Symposium on “Polymeric and Molecular Materials for Opto-Electronics (PMSE Division), Chicago (USA)

 

Invited Lectures

 

54.   2008 International Symposium on Organic Transistors and Functional Interfaces, Sendai, Japan (programmed August)

53.   2008 IDMC (International Display Manufacturing Conference) and Asia Display, Ilsan, Korea (programmed October)

52.   2008 SPIE Meeting, San Diego, CA USA (programmed August)

51.   2007 Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Chemistry, Rehovot, Israel (programmed July)

50.   2008 Delft University, Department of Materials Science (programmed July)

49.   2007 University of Groningen, Department of Physical Chemistry (programmed July)

48.   2008 IMEC, Leuven, Belgium (programmed July)

47.   2008 ENEA-CNR Center, Naples (programmed May)

46.   2008 Singapore National University, Nanotechnology Center (programmed June)

45.   2008 University of Kentucky, Department of Chemistry, KT, USA

44.   2008 E-MRS Meeting, Strasbourg, France

43.   2008 MRS Meeting, San Francisco, CA USA

42.   2008 SPIE Photonics Europe, Strasbourg, France

41.   2008 Flexible Electronics and Display, Phoenix, AZ USA

40.   2007 University of Paisa, Department of Chemistry, Italy

39.   2007 University College London, Department of Physics and Astronomy, UK

38.   2007 Imperial College, Department of Physics, UK

37.   2007 University of Cambridge, School of Physical Sciences, UK

36.   2007 University of Naples Federico II, Department of Chemistry, Naples, Italy

35.   2007 3rd Global Plastic Electronics Conference & Showcase, Frankfurt, Germany

34.   2007 4th European Conference on Organic Electronics and Related Phenomana, Varenna, Italy

33.   2007 Organic RFID Workshop, Chicago, USA

32.   2007 Summer School of Materials Science, Bressanone, Italy

31.   2007 Organic Electronic Conference-07, Frankfurt, Germany

30.   2007 Italian Chemical Society-Organic Division Meeting, Cosenza, Italy

29.   2007 University of Parma, Department of Chemistry, Parma, Italy

28.   2007 Politecnico di Milano, Department of Chemical Sciences, Milano, Italy

27.   2007 SPIE Meeting-Organic Electronics, San Diego, CA USA

26.   2007 BASF-JKS Research Solution Polymers, Ludwigshafen, Germany

25.   2007 Spring MRS Meeting, San Francisco, CA USA

24.   2007 233rd ACS National Meeting, Chicago, IL USA

23.   2006 ICPOP Symposium on Photonic Materials and Devices, Lyon, France

22.   2006 USMS Workshop on Large-Area, Flexible Electronics, Gaithersburg, USA

21.   2006 CNR ISOC Bologna, Bologna, Italy

20.   2006 KIChE International Symposium on Display Materials and Processes, Daegu, South Korea

19.   2006 Seoul National University, Department of Materials Science, Seoul, South Korea

18.   2006 Pohang University, Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang, South Korea

17.   2006 The Catholic University of Korea, Department of Chemistry, Seoul, South Korea

16.   2006 Yeungnam University, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Daedong, South Korea

15.   2006 LG Chem Labs, Advanced Materials Division, Daedong, South Korea

14.   2006 CLEO Optical Materials, Fabrication and Characterization, Long Beach, CA USA

13.   2006 Organic Electronic Conference-06, Frankfurt, Germany

12.   2006 Organic RFID Workshop, San Diego, CA USA

11.   2006 Fall MRS Meeting, Boston, MA USA

10.   2006 Advanced Heterostructures Workshop, Kohala Coast, Big Island of Hawai, USA

9.     2005 University of Milan, Department of Chemistry, Milan, Italy

8.     2005 ACS/IEEE CPMT/MRS Organic Microelectronics Workshop, Newport, CT USA

7.     2005 NASA Molecular Conductor Workshop, Purdue University, Lafayette, IN USA

6.     2005 5th INSTM Meeting, Cagliari, Italy

5      2005 Organic RFID Workshop, San Diego, CA USA

4.     2005 University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Materials Science, Milan, Italy

3.     2004 IMAPS-Printing Organic and Melecular Electronic Technologies Meeting, Annapolis, MD USA

2.     2003 48th SPIE Meeting (Organic Field Effect Transistors II), San Diego, CA USA

1.     2003 IMAPS-Printing an Intelligent Future Meeting, Boston, MA USA

 

Books

 

4.   Facchetti. A. in Electro-Active Oligo- and Polythiophenes for Field-Effect Devices, Perepichka, I.F.; Ed.; John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex,UK in press.

 

3.   Transparent Electronics, Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J. Eds.; John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex,UK, in preparation

 

2.   Facchetti. A. in Molecular Semiconductors for Organic Field-Effect Transistors, Sun, S.-S.; Dalton, L. R. Eds.; CRC Press; in press.

 

1.   Facchetti. A.; Katz, H. E.; Marks, T. J.; Veinot, J. in Organic Semiconductor Material, Gamota, D. Ed.;

  Kluwer Academic Publischer; Norwell, MA (2003).

 

Publications

-------------  2008  -------------

 

130.   Yan, H.;  Blache, R.; Lu, S.; Woerle, J.; *Facchetti, A.  “Solution Processed Top-Gate n-Channel Transistors and Complementary Circuits on Plastics Operating in Ambient” Adv. Mater. 2008, in press.

 

129.   Shirman, T.; Freeman, D.; Shimon, L.; Feldman, I.; Van Der Boom, M.; *Facchetti, A.  “Assembly of Crystalline Halogen-Bonded Materials by Physical Vapor Deposition” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, in press.

 

128.   Usta, H.; *Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J.  “Synthesis and Characterization of Electron-Deficient and Highly Soluble (Bis)Indenofluorene Building Blocks for n-Type Semiconducting Polymers”  Org. Lett. 2008, 10, 1385.

 

127.   Beverina, L.; Crippa, M.;  Salice, P.;  Ruffo, R.;  Ferrante, C.;  Fortunati, I.; Signorini, R.; Mari, C. M.; Bozio, R.; Facchetti, A.; G.; Pagani, G. A.; “Indolic squaraines as Two-Photon Absorbing dyes in the Visible region: X-ray structure, electrochemical and Nonlinear Optical characterization” Chem. Mater. 2008, in press.

 

126.   DiBenedetto, S. A.; Frattarelli, D.; Ratner, M. A.; *Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J. “Vapor Phase Self-Assembly of Molecular Gate Dielectrics for Thin Film Transistors” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, in press.

 

125.   Letizia, J.; Salata, M.; Tribout, C.; *Facchetti, A.; Ratner, M. A.; Marks, T. J. "n-Channel Polymers by Design: Optimizing the Interplay of Solubilizing Substituents, Crystal Packing, and Field-Effect Transistor Characteristics in Polymeric Bithiophene-Imide Semiconductors" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, in press.

 

124.   Kim, C.; Wang, Z.; Choi, H.-J.; Ha, Y.-G.; Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J. "Printable Crosslinked Polymer Blend Dielectrics. Design Strategies, Synthesis, Microstructures, and Electrical Properties, with Organic Field-Effect Transistors as Testbeds."J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, in press.

 

123.   Byrne, P.; *Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J.  “Solution-Processed High Mobility Inorganic Thin-Film Transistors with a Self-Assembled Multilayer Gate Dielectric”  Adv. Mater. 2008, in press.

 

122.   Chen, M.-C.; Kim, C.; Chen, S.-Y.; Chiang, Y.-J.; Chung, M.-C.; *Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J.  “Functionalized anthradithiophenes for organic field-effect transistors”  J. Mater. Chem. 2008, 18, 1029-1036.

 

121.   Wang, Y.; Marks, T. J.; Ratner, M. A.; Macchioni, A.; Cariati, E.; Frattarelli, D.; Facchetti, A.; Zuccaccia, C.; Wegener, S. "Twisted p-Electron System Electro-Optic Chromophores. Structural and Electronic Consequences of Relaxing Twist-Inducing Non-Bonded Repulsions" J. Phys. Chem. 2008, in press

 

120.   Koh, S. E.; Risko, C.; da Silva Filho, D. A.; Kwon, O.; Facchetti, A.; Bredas, J.-L.; Marks, T. J.; Ratner, M. A.  “Modeling electron and hole transport in fluoroarene-oligothiopene semiconductors: investigation of geometric and electronic structure properties”  Adv. Funct. Mater. 2008, 18, 332-340.

 

119.   Lee, K.; Lu, G.; Facchetti, A.; Janes, D. B.; Marks, T. J.  “Comparative passivation effects of self-assembled mono- and multilayers on GaAs junction field effect transistors," Appl. Phys. Lett. 2008, 92(12), 123509/1-123509/3.

 

118.   Lu, G.; Usta, H.; Risco, C.; Wang, L.; *Facchetti, A.; Ratner, M. A.; Marks, T. J. "Synthesis, Characterization, and Transistor Response of Semiconducting Silole Polymers with Substantial Hole Mobility and Air Stability. Experiment and Theory" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, in press.

 

117.   Ju, S.; Kim, S.; Mohammadi, S.; Janes, D. B.; Ha, Y.-G.; Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J.  “Interface studies of ZnO nanowire transistors using low-frequency noise and temperature-dependent I-V measurements” Appl. Phys. Lett. 2008, 92, 022104/1-022104/3.

 

116.   Ju, S.; Li, J.; Liu, J.; Chen, P.-C.; Ha, Y.-G.; Ishikawa, F.; Chang, H.; Zhou, C.; Facchetti, A.; Janes, D. B.; Marks, T. J.  “Transparent Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode Displays Driven by Nanowire Transistor Circuitry” Nano Letters 2008, 8(4), 997-1004..

 

-------------  2007  -------------

 

115.   Kim, C.; *Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J. “Polymer Gate Dielectric Viscoelasticity Modulates Pentacene Transistor Performance” Science 2007, 318, 76-80.

 

114.   *Facchetti, A. “Book Review: Organic Electronics” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 1367-1368.

 

113.   *Facchetti, A. “Semiconducting Materials for Organic Field-Effect Transistors” Materials Today 2007, 10, 28.

 

112.   Wang, Z.; *Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J. “Anthracenedicarboximides As Air Stable N-Channel Semiconductors for Thin-Film Transistors with Remarkable Current On-Off Ratios”J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 13362-13363.

 

111    Jones, B. A.; Facchetti, A.; Wasielewski, M. R.; Marks, T. J. “Effects of Arylene Diimide Thin Film Growth Conditions on n-Channel OFET Performance” Adv. Funct. Mater. 2007, in press

 

110.   Kim, C.; *Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J. “Gate Dielectric Physicochemical Control of Pentacene Microstructure and Field-Effect Transistor Response” Adv. Mater. 2007, 19, 2561-2566.

 

109.   Yoon, M.-Y.; DiBenedetto, S. A.; Russell, M. T.; *Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J. “High-Performance n-Channel Carbonyl-Functionalized Quaterthiophene Semiconductors: Thin-Film Transistor Response and Majority Carrier Type Inversion via Simple Chemical Protection/Deprotection” Chem. Mater, 2007, 19, 4864-4881.

 

108.   Jones, B. A.; Facchetti, A.; Wasielewski, M. R.; Marks, T. J. “Tuning Orbital Energetics in Arylene Diimide Semiconductors. Materials Design for Ambient Stability of n-Type Charge Transport” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 15259-15278.

 

107.   Lin, H. C; Kim, S. K.; Chang, D.; Xuan, Y.; Mohammadi, S.; Ye, P.; Gang, L.; Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J. “Direct-current and radio-frequency characterizations of GaAs metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistors enabled by self-assembled nanodielectrics” Appl. Phys. Lett. 2007, 91, 092103.

 

106.   Yoo, B.; Jones, B. A.; Basu, D.; Fine, D.; Jung, T.; Mohapatra, S.; Facchetti, A.; Dimmler, K.; Wasielewski, M. R.; Marks, T. J.; Dodabalapur, A. “High Performance Solution-Deposited n-Channel Organic Transistors and their Complementary Circuits” Adv. Mater. 2007, 19, 4028-4033.

 

105.   Jones, B. A.; Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J.; Wasielewski, M. R. “Cyanonaphthalene Diimide Semiconductors for Air-Stable, Flexible, and Optically Transparent n-Channel Field-Effect Transistors” Chem. Mater. 2007, 19, 2703-2705

 

104.   Ju, S.; Facchetti, A.; Xuan, Y.; Liu, J.; Ishikawa, F.; Ye, P.; Zhou, C.; Marks, T.J.; Janes, D.B. “Fabrication of Fully Transparent Nanowire Transistors for Transparent and Flexible Electronics” Nature Nanotech. 2007, 2, 378-384.

 

103.