Sagiv and three of his colleagues from the US won an award for their contribution to the development of self-assembling materials * The study opens the foundations for building much smaller chips and developing a completely new kind of medical diagnostic products
The Norwegian Academy of Sciences announced several weeks ago the awarding of the 2022 Kavli Prizes in Nanoscience, Astrophysics, and Neuroscience (2022 Kavli Prize Laureates) for scientific breakthroughs that changed our understanding of the smallest, largest, and most complex things in our world. Among the winners in the field of nanotechnology is Prof. Yaakov Sagiv of the Weizmann Institute, the first Israeli to win this award. The prize is $ 1 million for each area.
The Cavalry Awards are presented in early September in Oslo, the capital of Norway, in a solemn ceremony led by a king or a member of the royal family.
This is a highly prestigious award given exclusively in these three fields of nanoscience, astrophysics, and neuroscience similar to the Nobel Prize The selection process is done by an international consortium of scientists in these fields. In contrast to Noble, where the bulk of the selection made by members of the Swedish Academy of Sciences in the Quli Prize committees consists of scientists recommended by six academies of science: the Norwegian Academy, the National Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy, the French Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society The German Academy Awards are awarded once every two years since 2008.
Prof. Sagiv – one of the pioneers of the nano field in the world
professor Yaakov Sagiv The Weizmann Institute of Science is sharing the award with three other Nano Science Prize winners for 2022, along with American scientists David Alara, Ralph Nozo and George Whitesides. The award is given in recognition of “the pioneering work of the four, who created coatings the thickness of a single molecule on solid surfaces, which allow unprecedented control of various properties of the surface. These works have changed surface science and led to applications affecting our daily lives From a medical diagnosis to built-in semiconductor devices. “
Professor Sagiv’s pioneering study between 1978-1980 On the spontaneous formation of organized layers of molecules and mixtures of different molecules on surfaces such as glass, metals, and plastics laid the foundation for the field of nanoscience known as “- Self-assembling self-assembling single-layer monolayers“Since the publication of the article by Rivka Maoz and Yaakov Sagiv ( “On the Formation and Structure of Self-Assembling Monolayers I.” (August 1984).
A self-assembling single-layer is a surface coating about 1-3 nanometers thick (one nanometer is a millionth of a millimeter) made of a battery of molecules that organize themselves into a neat structure on the solid surface you want to observe, in a controlled process by selecting the experimental conditions. Depending on its composition and molecular structure, a single layer of this type, with a thickness of only one molecule, is sufficient to completely change many of the properties of the coated surface; For example, a surface wetted by water without the coating can become, after the coating, a water repellent (like a non-stick pan), an electrically conductive surface can become an insulator, and vice versa.
From a single-layer to a multi-layer coating
In 1983The concept of self-organization of molecules at the boundary between solid and liquid has been expanded with advertising Prof. Sagiv’s group at the Weizmann Institute of the principle of building self-assembled multilayer organized molecular structures. These molecular “high-rises” are built in a multi-stage process of controlled self-assembly of a single layer on top of its predecessor. This type of multi-layer construction is applicable to different types of molecules and on different surfaces, which paves the way for a wide variety of possible applications.
The methodology of creating print patterns from nanometers to centimeters On top of a single layer While preserving its structure Which was developed by Prof. Sagiv’s group –
Interfacial Electron Beam Lithography (2018) Constructive Lithography (1999); Complements the “toolbox” needed to advance the concept of architecture with molecules as building blocks in the processes of planned self-assembly of single-layers.
The research that continues to be conducted at the Weizmann Institute these days is concentrated on deciphering A series of unprecedented electrical conduction phenomena on the boundary between two different materials, which were discovered in self-assembled single-layer print molds GodAre manufactured In the unique methods developed for this purpose by the Sagiv Group.