Scientific biography

Next, I moved to the group of prof. Ronald Griessen at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Here, I investigated so-called switchable mirrors. These metalhydrides, e.g. YHx, switch from perfect mirrors to transparent windows upon hydrogen uptake. My work focused on both the fundamentals of the metal-insulator transition and the possibility to manipulate the hydrogen concentration in these mirrors electrically (e.g. by electromigration).

In 2002, I joined the group of prof. Bart van Wees, to start up a new research line in molecular transport (Groningen, the Netherlands). We put considerable effort in creating and optimizing new techniques to investigate single molecules. In a collaboration with prof. Ben Feringa, we focused on light-sensitive, switchable molecular devices.  Furthermore, we explored the exciting field of spin transport through carbon nanotubes.

In 2005, I obtained an NWO talent grant to perform research in the group of Christian Schönenberger (Basel, Switzerland).  After a successful and pleasant stay, I moved to Leiden in 2007, to take up the challenge of building up my own research group.

I am the project leader of 'ESCHER' for which we recently obtained a large 'NWO-groot onderzoek' grant! We aim at using aberration-corrected LEEM/PEEM (resolution down to 2 nm) to study fascinating phenomena in nanoscience. For this I collaborate with prof. Ruud Tromp (Leiden and IBM Yorktown) and others. Our first attempts to apply a Medipix 2 detector to LEEM/PEEM have proven very successful!

In November 2009, I received a VIDI-grant for research on molecular transport using the best of the properties of LEEM and PEEM. I am really excited to work on this research program at the Leiden Center for Ultramicroscopy (LCU), which we established on September 17, 2010.

Together with Peter Liljeroth, I recently wrote a review on charge transport through molecular switches. We did our best to give a useful overview for anybody starting his/her research in this fascinating field.

- Electron transport through single organic molecules

- Manipulation of transport using switchable molecules (e.g. light-sensitive diarylethene molecules)

- Spin and charge transport through carbon nanotubes

- Electromigration

- Metal-insulator transitions, e.g. in switchable mirrors (e.g. YH_x)

     - Experimentele Natuurkunde: 1e jaar Bacheloropleiding (2e semester)

Bulk and Surface Nucleation Processes in Ag2S Conductance Switches.

M. Morales-Masis, S.J. van der Molen, T. Hasegawa, J. M. van Ruitenbeek, Physical Review B 84, 115310 (2011). Preprint: Arxiv.org/abs/1108.5293

Advantages and limitations of transition voltage spectroscopy: a theoretical analysis.

Fatemeh Mirjani, Joseph .M. Thijssen, and Sense Jan van der Molen, Physical Review B 84, 115402 (2011). Preprint: Arxiv.org/abs/1106.4156

Conductance Properties of Switchable Molecules

Sense Jan van der Molen and Peter Liljeroth, Chapter 20 (p. 719-777) in the book Molecular Switches, Edited by Ben L. Feringa and Wesley R. Browne (Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2011)

The mechanical response of lithographically defined break junctions.

E.H. Huisman, M.L. Trouwborst, F.L. Bakker, B.J. van Wees, and S.J. van der Molen, Journal of Applied Physics 109, 104305 (2011);

Low Energy Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopy with ESCHER: Status and Prospects.

S.M. Schramm, J. Kautz, A. Berghaus, O. Schaff, R.M. Tromp, and S.J. van der Molen, IBM Journal of Research and Development 55 (4), page 1:1-1:7 (2011)

Controlling the interparticle distance in a 2D molecule-nanoparticle network

C. M. Guédon, J. Zonneveld, E.H. Valkenier, J.C. Hummelen, and S. J. van der Molen, Nanotechnology 22, 125205 (2011).  DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/22/12/125205

- Selected for IOP Select: http://iopscience.iop.org/collections.

- Featured on Nanotechweb: http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/lab/45592

Transition Voltage Spectroscopy and the Nature of Vacuum Tunneling

M. L. Trouwborst, C. A. Martin, R. H. M. Smit, C. M. Guédon, T. A. Baart, S. J. van der Molen, and J. M. van Ruitenbeek, Nano Letters 11, 614-617 (2011). DOI: 10.1021/nl103699t

Low energy electron microscopy imaging using Medipix2 detectors.

I. Sikharulidze, R. van Gastel, S.Schramm, J.P. Abrahams, B. Poelsema, R.M. Tromp and S.J. van der Molen, Nucl. Instr. and Meth. in Phys. Res. A 633, S239-S242 (2011)

Electrical characteristics of conjugated self-assembled monolayers in large-area molecular junctions.

A. J. Kronemeijer, E. H. Huisman, H. B. Akkerman, A. M. Goossens1, I. Katsouras, P. A. van Hal, T. C. T. Geuns, S. J. van der Molen, P. W. M. Blom, and D. M. de Leeuw,  Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 173302 (2010)

Universal Scaling in Highly Doped Conducting Polymer Films.

A. J. Kronemeijer, E. H. Huisman, I. Katsouras, P. A. van Hal, T. C. T. Geuns, P.W. M. Blom, S. J. van der Molen, and D. M. de Leeuw, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 156604 (2010)

Oppervlakken filmen met trage elektronen.

Raoul van Gastel, Sense Jan van der Molen en Ruud Tromp, Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Natuurkunde p. 332-336, oktober 2010. In Dutch.

Charge transport through molecular switches. (Topical Review)

Sense Jan van der Molen and Peter Liljeroth, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 22, 133001 (2010).

Ruisloos deeltjes detecteren.

Raoul van Gastel, Sense Jan van der Molen, Irakli Sikharulidze, Georg Gademann, Julia Jungmann, Ron M.A. Heeren en Marc Vrakking, Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Natuurkunde 75-11,  374-377 (2009).

Optimizing rotary processes in synthetic molecular motors

E.M. Geertsema, S.J.van der Molen, M. Martens, and B.L. Feringa, PNAS 106, 16919-16924 (2009)

Medipix 2 detector applied to Low Energy Electron Microscopy

R. van Gastel and I. Sikharulidze, S. Schramm, J.P. Abrahams, B. Poelsema, R.M. Tromp, and S.J. van der Molen, Ultramicroscopy  110, 33-35 (2009)

Interpretation of Transition Voltage Spectroscopy

E.H. Huisman and C.M. Guédon, B.J. van Wees, and S.J. van der Molen, Nano Letters 9, 3909-3913 (2009)

Bistable hysteresis and resistance switching in hydrogen-gold junctions

M.L. Trouwborst, E.H. Huisman, S.J. van der Molen, and B.J. van Wees, Phys. Rev. B 80, 081407 (R) (2009).

Light-controlled conductance switching of ordered metal-molecule-metal devices

S.J. van der Molen, J. Liao, T. Kudernac, J.S. Agustsson, L. Bernard, M. Calame, B.J. van Wees, B.L. Feringa, and C. Schönenberger. Nano Letters 9, 76-80 (2009)

Conductance switching in Ag2S devices fabricated by in-situ sulphurization

M. Morales-Masis, S.J. van der Molen, W.T. Fu, M.B. Hesselberth, and J.M. van Ruitenbeek, Nanotechnology 20, 095710 (2009) .

Stabilizing single atom contacts by molecular bridge formation

E.H. Huisman, M.L. Trouwborst, F.L. Bakker, B. de Boer, B.J. van Wees, S.J. van der Molen.  Nano Letters 8, 3381-3385 (2008)

Charge transport in a single superconducting tin nanowire encapsulated in a multiwalled carbon nanotube

N. Tombros,  L. Buit,  I. Arfaoui,  T. Tsoufis, D. Gournis, P.N. Trikalitis, S.J. van der Molen, P. Rudolf,  B.J. van Wees.   Nano Letters 8, 3060-3064 (2008)

Single Atom Adhesion in Optimized Gold Nanojunctions

M. L. Trouwborst, E. H. Huisman, F. L. Bakker, S. J. van der Molen, and B. J. van Wees.  Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 175502 (2008)

Spectroscopy of molecular junction networks obtained by place exchange in 2D nanoparticle arrays

Laetitia Bernard, Yavor Kamdzhilov, Michel Calame, Sense Jan van der Molen, Jianhui Liao and Christian Schönenberger,  J.  Phys. Chem. C 111, 18445-18450 (2007)

Feedback controlled electromigration in four-terminal nano-junctions

ZhengMing Wu, M. Steinacher, R. Huber, M. Calame, S. J. van der Molen, C. Schönenberger, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 053118 (2007)

Controlled formation of metallic nanowires via Au nanoparticle ac-trapping

L. Bernard, M. Calame, S. J. van der Molen, J. Liao and C. Schönenberger, Nanotechnology 18, 235202 (2007)

Electrical conductance of molecular junctions by a robust statistical analysis

M.T. Gonzalez, S. Wu, R. Huber, S.J. van der Molen, C. Schönenberger and M. Calame, Nano Letters 6 (10), 2238-2242 (2006)

Uni- and bi-directional light-induced switching of diarylethenes on gold nanoparticles

T. Kudernac, S.J. van der Molen, B.J. van Wees, B.L. Feringa, Chem. Comm. (Hot Paper) 3597-3599 (2006)

Separation of spin and charge transport in single wall carbon nanotubes

N. Tombros, S.J. van der Molen, B.J. van Wees, Phys. Rev. B 73 (23),  233403 (2006)

Magneto-coulomb effect in spin valve devices

S.J. van der Molen, N. Tombros, B.J. van Wees, Phys. Rev. B (Rap. Comm.) 73 (22), 220406 (2006)

Reversible switching of photochromic molecules self-assembled on gold

N. Katsonis, T. Kudernac, M. Walko, S.J. van der Molen, B.J. van Wees, B.L. Feringa, Adv. Mat. 18, 1397-1400 (2006)

The role of Joule heating in the formation of nanogaps by electromigration

M.L. Trouwborst, S.J. van der Molen, B.J. van Wees, J. Appl. Phys. 99 (11), 114316 (2006)

Stochastic and photochromic switching of diarylethenes studied by scanning tunnelling microscopy

S.J. van der Molen, H. van der Vegte, T. Kudernac, I. Amin, B.L. Feringa, B.J. van Wees, Nanotechnology 17, 310-314 (2006)

Mechanics of lithographically defined mechanically controllable break junctions

S.A.G. Vrouwe, E. van der Giessen, S.J. van der Molen, D. Dulic, B.J. van Wees, Phys. Rev. B 71, 035313 (2005)

One-way opto-electronic switching of photochromic molecules on gold

Diana Dulic, S.J. van der Molen, T. Kudernac, H. T. Jonkman J.J.D. de Jong, T. N. Bowden, J. van Esch, B. L. Feringa, B. J. van Wees, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91 (20), 207402 (2003)

Stress development in thin Y-films on hard substrates during hydrogen loading

M. Dornheim, A. Pundt, R. Kirchheim, S.J. van der Molen, E.S. Kooij, J. Kerssemakers, R. Griessen, H. Harms, U. Geyer,  J. Appl. Phys. 93 (11) 8958-8965 (2003)

Switchable mirrors for visualization and control of hydrogen diffusion in transition metals

A. Remhof, S.J. van der Molen, A. Antosik, A. Dobrowolska, N.J. Koeman, R. Griessen, Phys. Rev. B (Rap. Comm.) 66 (2), 020101 (2002)

Local switching in epitaxial YH_x switchable mirrors

J.W.J. Kerssemakers, S.J. van der Molen, R. Günther, B. Dam, R. Griessen, Phys. Rev. B 65 (7), 075417 (2002)

Thermochromic effect in YH_{3- δ} and Mg_0.1Y_0.9H_{2.9- δ}

I.A.M.E. Giebels, S.J. van der Molen, M. Di Vece, R. Griessen, Appl. Phys. Lett. 80 (8), 1343-1345 (2002)

Revisiting the hysteresis in YHx films

A. Remhof , J.W.J. Kerssemakers, S.J. van der Molen, E.S. Kooij, R. Griessen, Phys. Rev. B 65 (5), 054110 (2002)

Electromigration of H vacancies in YH3- δ

S.J. van der Molen, M.S. Welling, R. Griessen, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 330-332, 426-429 (2002)

In situ monitoring of optical and structural switching in epitaxial YHx switchable mirrors

J.W.J. Kerssemakers, S.J. van der Molen, N.J. Koeman, R. Günther, R. Griessen, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 330-332, 342-347 (2002)

A hydrogen traffic jam in YH_x

S.J. van der Molen, M.C. Huisman, R. Griessen, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 330-332, 430-433 (2002)

Insulating fcc YH3 stabilized by MgH2

S.J. van der Molen, D.G. Nagengast, A.T.M. van Gogh, J. Kalkman, E.S. Kooij, J.H. Rector, R. Griessen, Phys. Rev. B 63 (23), 235116 (2001)

Correlated electromigration of H in the switchable mirror YH_3-δ

S.J. van der Molen, M.S. Welling, R. Griessen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3882-3885 (2000)

Pixel switching of epitaxial Pd/YHx/CaF2 switchable mirrors

J.W.J. Kerssemakers, S.J. van der Molen, N.J. Koeman, R. Günther, R. Griessen, Nature 406, 489-491 (2000)

Performance enhancement of metal-hydride switchable mirrors using Pd/AlOx composite cap layers

A.T.M. van Gogh, S.J. van der Molen, J.W.J. Kerssemakers, N.J. Koeman, R. Griessen, Appl. Phys. Lett. 77 (6), 815-817 (2000)

Elastic recoil detection analysis for the determination of hydrogen concentration profiles in switchable mirrors

M.C. Huisman, S.J. van der Molen, R.D. Vis, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 158, 451-457 (1999)

Hydriding kinetics of Pd capped YHx switchable mirrors

S.J. van der Molen, J.W.J. Kerssemakers, J.H. Rector, N.J. Koeman, B. Dam, R. Griessen, Journal of Applied Physics 86, 6107-6119 (1999)

 Visualization of hydrogen migration in solids using switchable mirrors

F.J.A. den Broeder & S.J. van der Molen et al.  Nature 394, 656-658 (1998)

Ph.D. Thesis: Hydrogen migration in Switchable Mirrors

Sense Jan van der Molen