Associate Director for Outreach Programs, and Member, Materials Science Institute

B.A., Rutgers University, 1978. Ph.D., Cornell University, 1983 (Michel J. Sienko). Postdoctoral: Cornell University, 1983-84 (M. J. Sienko). Honors and Awards: Henry Rutgers Undergraduate Research Scholar, 1977-78; Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 1987-1990. Rosaria P. Haugland Chair in Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2007. At Oregon since 1986.

Research Interests:

Dave Johnson's research is at the interface of chemistry and physics and at the forefront of materials research. His group has pioneered a new approach to the synthesis of extended solids that permits them to prepare families of new nanostructured and kinetically stable compounds. The synthesis approach depends on controlling composition and diffusion lengths within a precursor that is designed to self-assemble into the desired new compound, as shown on the right. His group determines the crystal structures and measures the electrical and magnetic properties of these new compounds. By correlating structure with unusual physical properties and using their unique synthesis approach, Johnson's group is able to predict and then synthesize new compounds with unusual or unprecedented physical properties.[1]

Johnson's groundbreaking, non-traditional approach to chemical synthesis has led to many new materials that have immediate practical applications. For example, his group discovered a new, turbostratically disordered form of tungsten diselenide with the lowest thermal conductivity ever reported for a dense solid (Ultralow Thermal Conductivity in Disordered, Layered WSe Crystals Catalin Chiritescu, David G. Cahill, Ngoc Nguyen, David Johnson, Arun Bodapati, Pawel Keblinski, and Paul Zschack, Science 19 January 2007 315: 351-353[2][3] [4]. His group determined that this material has an unprecedentedly small thermal conductivity because it is poised between a fully disordered material and a fully ordered crystalline lattice. This correlation between structure and property permitted Johnson's group to prepare many additional compounds with comparably small thermal conductivities. Johnson's synthesis approach is used to adjust the work function of metal contacts and to form phase change memory materials in the semiconductor industry.

Johnson's research groups benefits from collaborating with researchers at other institutions, who probe the physical properties and electronic structures of the new compounds they prepare. For example, the discovery and understanding of tungsten diselenide with the lowest thermal conductivity ever reported for a dense solid depended on thermal conductivity measurements by Professor Cahill's group at the University of Illinios, diffraction data and analysis done with Dr. Zschack of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, and calculations performed by Professor Keblinski of Rochester Institute of Technology. More recently, collaborations with the Franhofer Institute in Freiburg Germany have enabled Johnson's group to develop an equilibrium based approach to control the carrier concentration of nanostructured compounds.

Johnson is both an entrepreneur and educator, and has worked extensively with the Engineering and Technology Industry Council to create research and educational programs with Oregon Industries. He led MSI's efforts to create the Graduate Internship Program (Industrial Internship Graduate degree program). This program now partners with over 60 companies as well as universities and colleges across the country, providing both Masters and Ph.D. students in chemistry and physics at the University of Oregon with opportunities to spend 6-9 months as engineers and research scientists solving problems in an industry setting or to spend a quarter or semester as an instructor at a primarily undergraduate institution. These internships build skills and provide experience that lead to informed career decisions and opportunities for the participating students. Industry in the Northwest has benefited short term from the productivity of the interns and long term from gaining outstanding employees. The relationships formed setting up the Graduate Internship program formed the basis of the government, industry, and academic research collaborations that developed into ONAMI, the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute. ONAMI promotes collaboration between scientists at UO, OSU, PSU, PNNL, and Oregon Industries. Johnson was one of the founding faculty directors of ONAMI.

Johnson has also been a leader in successful National Science Foundation IGERT [5] [6] and GK-12 programs as well as U.S. Dept. of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need awards. The IGERT program supports graduate students collaborating between Materials Science Institute (MSI) research groups and facilitates Ph.D. students obtaining internships with partnering companies. The GK-12 and GAANN programs partner with the Umatilla-Morrow and North Central Educational Service Districts. Ph.D. students become scientists-in-residence in schools served by these ESDs, training teachers in the use of inquiry based science kits in their classrooms. Other innovative programs include an NSF STEP program, and an NSF funded Summer Research in Solid State Chemistry for Undergraduates and College Faculty and Chip Camp, all of which provide week-long intensive courses for undergraduates from schools throughout the United States. Through ONAMI and the Engineering and Technology Industry Council, Johnson has strengthened ties between local industry and the University of Oregon and between the University of Oregon and PSU and OSU [7]. Working with Vice Provost Rich Linton, Johnson was able to provide both industry and fellow academics access to expensive materials characterization equipment through the establishment of CAMCOR - the Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon. CAMCOR is Oregon's high tech extension service and is located in the new Lokey Labs facility which is a factor of two below the NIST A criteria for vibrations at all frequencies and has exceptional temperature stability .[8][9].

More recently, Johnson collaborated with Douglas Keszler, OSU, John Wager, OSU, and Darren Johnson, UO on a successful proposal to the National Science Foundation for a Chemical Innovation Center. [9][10] The Center for Green Materials Chemistry, funded in October 2008, will study and expand a transformational solution-based chemistry platform developed by the team that will allow electronics manufacturers to:

- fabricate high-performance devices via low temperature deposition,
- pattern inorganic materials with an unprecedented combination of high resolution, high speed, and large area,
- reduce the production of waste,
- optimize device performance, and
- enable transformational fundamental chemistry,
- creating new green technology.

Honors and Appointments

2008 Advisory Board, National Science Foundation IGERT Resource Center
2007 Rosaria Haugland Foundation Chair in Pure and Applied Chemistry
2006 Board Member, International Thermoelectric Society
2006 Outstanding Scientist Award, Oregon Academy of Science
2006 Solid State Chair, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society
2006 Solid State Chair elect, Division of Inorganic Chemistry, American Chemical Society
2004 Faculty Co-Director, Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnology Institute
2000-present Director of Educational Outreach, Materials Science Institute
1999-present Advisory Editor for Inorganic Chemistry
1997-present Professor of Chemistry, University of Oregon
1996-2000 Director, Materials Science Institute, University of Oregon
1994-present Advisory Editor for Journal of Alloys and Compounds
1994-1996 Treasurer, Materials Science Institute, University of Oregon
1992-1997 Associate Professor, University of Oregon
1987-1990 Office of Naval Research, Young Investigator Award
1986-1993 Assistant Professor, University of Oregon
1984-1986 Research Chemist, Dupont Central Research; Development Dept.,Wilmington, DE
1983-1984 Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
1983 NATO Exchange Fellow, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Great Britain
1978-1983 Graduate Research Assistant, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
1983 Graduate with High Department Honors, Rutgers University
1977-1978 Henry Rutgers Undergraduate Research Scholar
1977 Summer Undergraduate Research Grant; FMC Corporation109. J M. Jensen, A. B.

[1] Solid-state chemistry: New order for lithium bromide, Nature 454, 174-175 (10 July 2008)
[2] Ultralow Thermal Conductivity in Disordered, Layered WSe2 Crystals, Science 19 January 2007 315, 351-353
[3] Researchers produce insulation with lowest thermal conductivity ever
[4] Argonne National Lab: An Insulating Breakthrough
[5] University of Oregon Receives Major Grant
[6] University of Oregon Receives Major National Science Foundation Grant; The $3.2 Million Grant Expands Workforce Training in Materials Science and Nanoscience
[7] The power of three: A trio of world-class scientists embodies the strength of collaboration and forges stronger links to the business world.
[8] University of Oregon Gets Nanoscience Research Center
[9] Finishing Touches being applied to Lokey Labs
[10] OSU and UO gain support for "green materials" Center

David Johnson CV and Publications

Current and Former Students and Post Doctorals

Materials Science Institute Industrial Internship Program

NSF Center for Green Materials Chemistry

NSF GK-12 Outreach Program

NSF IGERT Program

To Contact Dr. Johnson:
Phone: 541-346-4612
davej@uoregon.edu

WEBMASTER
chem@uoregon.edu