Dr. Roberto Otero Martín
Roberto Otero obtained his PhD in 2002 from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where he investigated the relations between the morphology of nanostructures and their electronic structure. In 2002 he moved to the University of Aarhus in Denmark as a Research Assistant Professor funded through a Marie Curie Fellowship under the supervision of Prof. Flemming Besenbacher. During his postdoctoral stage, Roberto Otero became interested in the self-assembly of organic molecules on solid surfaces, making important contributions to our current understanding of hydrogen-bonding at surfaces (Angew. Chem. Intl. Ed. 44, 2270 (2005), Science 319, 312 (2008)) and the diffusion of complex organic adsorbates (Nature Materials 3, 779 (2004)). In 2005, he joins Universidad Autónoma de Madrid as Ramón y Cajal tenior position, which became permanent in 2011, and in 2008 he was recruited by IMDEA Nanoscience as Associated Researcher.
Research Lines
The Photon STM group is currently developing several research lines, aiming at a) the fabrication of new nanostructures on solid surfaces starting from organic material, including graphene nanostructures and b) the electronic and optical characterization of such nanostructures with atomic resolution, by Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy, Spectroscopy and Luminescence.
- 2D donor/acceptor molecular nanostructures: We have investigated the role of charge transfer on the adsorption, and self-assembly of organic molecules on solid surfaces [Nature Chemistry 2, 374 (2010), Chem Comm 50, 833 (2014)...]
- New covalent chemical reactions at solid surfaces, including the synthesis of graphene nanostructures [Nature Communications 7, 11002 (2016)].
- Growth and physical properties of 2D coordinations networks on solid surfaces [Small 11 6358 (2015)].
- Attachment and characterization of colloidal semi- conducting quantum dots to solid surfaces [ACS Nano 7 2559 (2013)].
- Electrically induced light emission from individual organic molecules and nanostructures.
Relevant publications
- “Elementary Structural Motifs in a Random Network of Cytosine Adsorbed on a Gold(111) Surface” Roberto Otero, et col. Science 319, 312-315 (2008)
- “Guanine Quartet Networks Stabilized by Cooperative Hydrogen Bonds” Roberto Otero, et col. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 2270-2275
- “Lock-and-Key Effect on the Surface Diffusion of Large Organic Molecules Probed by STM” Roberto Otero, et col. Nature Materials 3, 779-782 (2004)