Martin Setvin (Associate Professor)

• Departement of Surface and Plasma Physics, Charles University in Prague
• V Holesovickach 2, 180 00 Praha, Czech Republic
• Phone: +420 951552310
• martin.setvin_et_mff.cuni.cz
  
• Full CV (pdf)
  
• Google Scholar profile
  

History

• 2020 - present: Associate Professor at Charles University
• 2015 - 2022: Assistant professor, TU Wien
• June 2018: Finished habilitation at the TU Wien
• 2012-2015: Postdoc at TU Wien, Austria (Ulrike Diebold group)
• 2008: Joint Graduate Fellowship at National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan (group of Kazushi Miki)
• 2009-2012: Part-time employment as a researcher at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Nanosurf group, Pavel Jelinek)
• 2007-2012: PhD at Charles University in Prague

Research interests

Noncontact Atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM): Recent developments in this experimental technique offer intriguing opportunities in materials research, i.e., molecular and submolecular resolution, enhanced capabilities of chemical identification, or measurement and control of the charge state of species adsorbed at surfaces. These capabilities provide a new angle of view on complex materials, which were often difficult to approach by other experimental methods. My main aim is currently developing the methodology for understanding the surfaces of binary and ternary oxides, and pointing out the opportunities offered by the nc-AFM technique.

• Binary materials - for example TiO2 anatase and rutile, iron oxides (magnetite, hematite), In2O3, etc. These are well-understood oxides and serve as a system for testing the capabilities and limitations of the combined AFM/STM technique.
• Cubic perovskites - for example KTaO3, SrTiO3, or niobates. Surface science of ternary materials is relatively poorly understood compared to binary systems. We have developed a procedure for preparing nice (1x1) bulk-terminated surfaces of cubic perovskites. Such surfaces offer an intriguing playground for investigating the material stability, surface chemistry, electronic structure, ferroelectric properties, etc.
• Other complex materials - anything interesting. Recently we have worked for example on Eu-doped alkali halides, which are used as scintillators. Or we currently work on aluminosilicates (mica, ...), which are widely used in many applications, yet their surface chemistry is rather unclear.

Selected recent publications

• Nature Reviews Materials 6, 560 (2021), Polarons in Materials
• Nature 592, 722 (2021), Direct assessment of the acidity of individual surface hydroxyls
• PNAS 117, 14827 (2020), Resolving the adsorption of molecular O2 on the rutile TiO2(110) surface by noncontact atomic force microscopy
• Science 359, 572 (2018), Polarity compensation mechanisms on the perovskite surface KTaO3 (001)
• PNAS 114, E2556 (2017), Electron transfer between anatase TiO2 and an O2 molecule directly observed by atomic force microscopy
• ACS Catalysis 7, 7081 (2017), Methanol on Anatase TiO2 (101): Mechanistic insights into photocatalysis
• Phys. Rev. X 7, 031053 (2017), Polaron-driven surface reconstructions
• Chem. Soc. Rev. 46, 1772 (2017), Surface point defects on bulk oxides: atomically-resolved scanning probe microscopy
• J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138, 9565 (2016), Following the reduction of oxygen on TiO2 anatase (101) step by step
• Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 086402 (2014), Direct View at Excess Electrons in TiO2 Rutile and Anatase
• Angew. Chem. Intl. Ed. 53, 4714 (2014)], Charge Trapping at the Step Edges of TiO2 Anatase (101)
• Science 341, 988 (2013), Reaction of O2 with Subsurface Oxygen Vacancies on TiO2 Anatase (101)