Felix R. Fischer
· Professor of ChemistryUniversity of California, Berkeley · Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Active 1964–2026
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About
Felix R. Fischer is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, born in 1980. He holds a diploma in Chemistry from Ruperto-Carola University, Heidelberg (2004), and a Ph.D. from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (2008). He was a Leopoldina Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University, New York, from 2008 to 2011. His research focuses on organic synthesis, carbon nanomaterials, molecular electronics, and scanning probe microscopy. Fischer's group uniquely combines organic synthesis with advanced atomically resolved scanning probe imaging techniques, engaging in highly interdisciplinary research that spans molecular organic synthesis, condensed matter physics, and electrical engineering. His work involves the rational bottom-up design and molecular synthesis of carbon nanomaterials with atomically defined structures, their controlled assembly into hierarchically ordered architectures, and the exploration of their physical properties emerging from quantum confinement effects. Fischer aims to understand, fine-tune, and harness the properties of nanoscale materials by developing novel synthetic tools that allow atomic-level control over geometric parameters, leading to the creation of designer quantum materials with tunable electronic structures. His contributions have advanced the understanding of highly tunable semiconductors, metallic band structures, long-range magnetic ordering, and symmetry-protected topological states, extending beyond…
Research topics
- Condensed matter physics
- Quantum mechanics
- Physics
- Materials science
- Nanotechnology
Selected publications
Inducing metallicity in graphene nanoribbons via zero-mode superlattices
Science · 2020 · 209 citations
The design and fabrication of robust metallic states in graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are challenging because lateral quantum confinement and many-electron interactions induce electronic band gaps when graphene is patterned at nanometer length scales. Recent developments in bottom-up synthesis have enabled the design and characterization of atomically precise GNRs, but strategies for realizing GNR metallicity have been elusive. Here we demonstrate a general technique for inducing metallicity in GN…
Synthesis and characterization of low-dimensional N-heterocyclic carbene lattices
Science · 2024-05-23 · 39 citations
articleSenior authorCorrespondingThe covalent interaction of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) with transition metal atoms gives rise to distinctive frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs). These emergent electronic states have spurred the widespread adoption of NHC ligands in chemical catalysis and functional materials. Although formation of carbene-metal complexes in self-assembled monolayers on surfaces has been explored, design and electronic structure characterization of extended low-dimensional NHC-metal lattices remains elusive.…
Regioselective On-Surface Synthesis of [3]Triangulene Graphene Nanoribbons
Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2024-05-30 · 24 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingThe integration of low-energy states into bottom-up engineered graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) is a robust strategy for realizing materials with tailored electronic band structure for nanoelectronics. Low-energy zero-modes (ZMs) can be introduced into nanographenes (NGs) by creating an imbalance between the two sublattices of graphene. This phenomenon is exemplified by the family of [n]triangulenes (n ∈ N). Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of [3]triangulene-GNRs, a regioregular one-dimensional (1D…
Nano Letters · 2024-04-17 · 12 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingTopological phases in laterally confined low-dimensional nanographenes have emerged as versatile design tools that can imbue otherwise unremarkable materials with exotic band structures ranging from topological semiconductors and quantum dots to intrinsically metallic bands. The periodic boundary conditions that define the topology of a given lattice have thus far prevented the translation of this technology to the quasi-zero-dimensional (0D) domain of small molecular structures. Here, we descri…
Controlled catalyst-transfer polymerization in graphene nanoribbon synthesis
Chem · 2023-12-06 · 12 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
Recent grants
NSF · $475k · 2018–2021
Engineering Strongly Correlated Quantum Phases Through Symmetry Breaking in GNRs
NSF · $480k · 2022–2025
NSF · $625k · 2015–2020
Frequent coauthors
- 248 shared
Michael F. Crommie
Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute
- 182 shared
Steven G. Louie
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- 99 shared
Danny Haberer
University of California, Berkeley
- 98 shared
Tomas Marangoni
DuPont (United States)
- 84 shared
Jeffrey Bokor
- 79 shared
Rebecca A. Durr
- 68 shared
Yea‐Lee Lee
- 63 shared
Daniel J. Rizzo
Awards & honors
- Thieme Chemistry Journals Award (2011)
- ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award (2012)
- DOE Early Career Award (2012)
- Packard Fellowship For Science and Engineering (2013)
- NSF Early Career Award (2015)
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