Andrei Kolmakov (Fed)

Dr. Andrei Kolmakov is a Project Leader in Nanoscale Imaging Group/ Nanoscale Device Characterization Division at NIST. He received an M.S. in Physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia and a Ph.D. in Physics from the National Research Center, Kurchatov Institute, Russia. Following his postdoctoral work at the ELETTRA and HASYLAB synchrotrons, he joined the research staff at Texas A&M University and conducted original in situ STM studies on individual supported metal clusters under reaction conditions. Expanding nanotechnology applications of low dimensional materials at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UC-Santa Barbara, he performed seminal research in the field of gas sensorics with metal oxide nanowires. Prior to joining the CNST at NIST, Prof. Kolmakov was a faculty member in the Department of Physics at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where his group developed new device architectures and principles for chemical sensing with low dimensional materials. His group also employed modern synchrotron radiation based spectro-microscopy techniques such as SPEM, PEEM and X-ray microdiffraction as well as scanning probe and electron microscopy for in situ and in vivo characterization of individual working nanodevices. Andrei has also pioneered the application of ultrathin 2D materials as electron transparent membranes for (photo-)electron (XPS, PEEM, AES, XAS, SEM) spectro-microscopies in liquids and dense gases. He has published over 150 research papers, several review articles and book chapters, co-authored three patents and has co-edited a book on nanostructured metal oxide sensing systems. Andrei’s current research interests are in the developing of the methodology and instrumentation for in situ electron (and X-ray) imaging and spectroscopic characterization of nanodevices and working interfaces in operando mode under realistic environments, including liquid, dense gaseous and plasma media.

Projects: 

• Nanofluidic XPS: Development of XPS, AES, PEEM, XAS spectromicroscopy on a nanofluidic chip using graphene as electron transparent membranes
• SEM in liquids, gases and plasmas: Development of a measurement platform for in situ imaging and microanalysis of nanodevices, objects, and active interfaces under realistic working conditions, e.g., resistive switching, chemical sensing, electrochemical reaction or during plasma processing, ALD, etc.

Selected Publications

• Enabling Photoemission Electron Microscopy in Liquids via Graphene-Capped Microchannel Arrays, Guo H. X. Strelcov E., Yulaev A., Wang J., Appathurai N., Urquhart S., Vinson J., Sahu S., Zwolak M., Kolmakov A., Nano Letters, 17(2), 1034-1041, (2017)
• Seeing through Walls at the Nanoscale: Microwave Microscopy of Enclosed Objects and Processes in Liquid, Tselev A., Velmurugan J., Ievlev A. V., Kalinin S. V., Kolmakov A., ACS Nano 10 (3), 3562-3570
• Graphene oxide windows for in situ environmental cell photoelectron spectroscopy, A. Kolmakov, D. A. Dikin, L. J.  Cote, J. Huang, M. K. Abyaneh, M. Amati, L. Gregoratti, S. Guenther, and M.  Kiskinova, Nature Nanotechnology 6, 651–657 (2011).
• Gas sensor based on metal-insulator transition in VO2 nanowire thermistor, E. Strelcov, Y. Lilach, and A. Kolmakov, Nano Letters 9, 2322–2326 (2009).

Google Scholar Profile

Research Opportunities

We are looking for talented postdoctoral associates. US citizens are welcomed to consider NRC Research Associates Program with NIST.

Current research lines (but not limited):

• Electron Spectroscopy and Microscopy in Liquids and Gases
• In Situ SEM-Raman Spectromicroscopy of Working Devices and Active Interfaces under Realistic Conditions: in Liquids and Gases