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Surface Science Lab
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A lab that explores the self-assembly of organic molecules by "seeing" it with surface science techniques.
AboutAbout the lab
Exploring the fundamentals of organic materials, with self-assembly at the core.
The Surface Science Lab studies the fundamentals of electronic devices made from organic molecules, with self-assembly as the keyword.
It is a field where chemistry and physics merge, and people from chemistry, physics, and biology work together on the research.
The lab examines thin films of molecules with surface science techniques, studying the link between the "shape" of how molecules assemble and their function while actually "seeing" it.
On the lab's website, it is introduced under the name "Yamada Lab."
Key terms
- Self-assembly
- A phenomenon in which many elements gather while interacting with one another, and functions that no individual element has emerge on their own. It is a familiar mechanism in living organisms
- Surface science
- A field that studies the surface of a material, for example just a single layer of atoms or molecules. It is well suited to measuring fragile targets
- Superatom molecular orbital (SAMO)
- When a fullerene is regarded as a large atom, the highly symmetric, extended orbitals that form around it and resemble the orbitals of a hydrogen atom
- Field emission microscope (FEM)
- A microscope that applies a high negative voltage to a needle tip, projects the electrons that are emitted onto a screen, and magnifies the fine structure of the tip for viewing
ResearchResearch themes
Organic electronics materials such as organic FETs and organic solar cells are assemblies of molecules that interact only weakly with one another. At room temperature they form diverse self-assembled structures, and those structures greatly affect their physical properties. This lab closely observes the structure of molecular thin films at room temperature and, based on that, measures a variety of physical properties.
*Illustrative imageSuperatom Molecular Orbitals in Endohedral Fullerenes
The lab studies superatom molecular orbitals (SAMO) in endohedral fullerenes, in which something is placed inside a soccer-ball-shaped fullerene. It is advancing "SAMO engineering," which aims to understand and control SAMOs in thin films.
*Illustrative imageVisualizing Molecular Orbitals with Photoelectrons
To investigate the conduction mechanism of the particles that carry electricity in organic semiconductor thin films, the lab works on photoemission orbital tomography, which extracts information on the shape of molecular orbitals from photoelectrons. It is taking on the challenge of applying this to more practical molecular films.
*Illustrative imageSingle-Phase Thin Films of Next-Generation Organic EL Materials
The lab studies thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules, which are being researched as next-generation organic EL molecules, by turning them into single-phase thin films through self-assembly. It has independently produced single-phase films of 4CzIPN and is exploring the relationship between their assembled structure and their optical and electronic properties.
*Illustrative imageReal-Space, Real-Time Observation of Molecules
The lab is developing a method in which a molecule is placed at the tip of a field emission microscope (FEM) needle, and the shape and motion of the molecule are seen in real space and in real time from the pattern that appears. The mechanism that produces the patterns has not yet been elucidated.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Yamada Lab consist of faculty members, visiting faculty members, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and administrative staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorYoichi Yamada
- Project Assistant ProfessorRyohei Tsuruta
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Scanning tunneling microscope-MHS 2237-IMG 3820” Rama / CC BY-SA 3.0 fr (cropped)
- Superatom Molecular Orbitals in Endohedral Fullerenes: “Molecular Model of C60, Buckminsterfullerene - UCL Chemistry” UCL Mathematical and Physical Sciences from London, UK / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Visualizing Molecular Orbitals with Photoelectrons: “Photoemission laboratory” Food95 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Single-Phase Thin Films of Next-Generation Organic EL Materials: “LG gram Pro Z90SPG OLED DISPLAY RGB DOT MATRIX, OLED PANEL MADE BY SAMSUNG DISPLAY” Dinkun Chen / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Real-Space, Real-Time Observation of Molecules: “Field emission microscope image of Mo” Tatsuo Iwata from Sapporo, JAPAN / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (磁気機能工学): “Nuclear magnetic resonance devices in CAFIA laboratory” Sarka Na kopci / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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- Related lab (半導体材料): “4 inch float zone n-type silicon wafer with amorphous silicon thin film heterojunction structure” Radiotrefoil / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (スピントロニクス研究室): “Molecular-beam epitaxy system at LAAS 0509” Guillaume Paumier (user:guillom) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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