Professional Interests

• Fundamental understanding of the physics of Si–containing materials
• Structure-property relationships of inorganic resinous polymers and materials
• Effect of chemical modifications on physical characteristics of Si–containing materials (rheology, acoustics, electrical conductivity, polarizability and dielectric constant, absorption, luminescence)
• Device applications of non-linear electrical and optical thin-films

 

Education

• Post-doctoral Fellow, Australian Research Grants Committee, Dept. Chemistry, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia  (1974 – 1976)
• Dr.rer.nat. (D.Sc.) at Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, thesis advisor: Prof. Dr. Heinz Pick, on “The Electric Field Effect in Anthracene Single Crystals” (transl.) (1968 – 1974)
• Dipl. Phys. (M.S.) at Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart on Photocurrent in Anthracene Cystals by Charge Carrier Detrapping with Excitons (1963 – 1968)
• Study of physics at Universität Stuttgart and Technische Universität Berlin (1959 – 1963)
  
  

Employment History

• TechnoScience Consulting, Midland, Michigan (current)
  Principal
• Dow Corning Corporation, Midland, Michigan (1983 – 2009)
  Senior Research Specialist & Associate Research Scientist Physics Expertise Center, Central Research & Development; Business & Technology Incubator R & D
• Solar Energy Systems (1976 – 1983)
  Project and Group Leader, (joint venture between University of Delaware’s Institute of Energy Conversion, Newark, Delaware & Shell Research Company, Houston, Texas)
  
  

Professional Experience

• Preparation and characterization of Si-containing nanomaterials for electronics and photovoltaics
• Characterization of thin-film barrier coatings, measurement of low water vapor transmission rates
• Planar optical waveguides for photonics applications, chemical modification of silicone materials for refractive index matching
• Film drainage characteristics of model foams for the identification of polymerization process parameters
• Analysis of electrical bistability in metal-insulator-metal structures and development of device applications
• Development of interlayer dielectric material from novel presursor for integrated circuits (Fox®)
• High-emissivity SiC material for thermophotovoltaics; manufacture of emitter system prototype
• Research and development of thin-film polycrystalline heterojunction solar cells, including device characterization, performance and degradation analysis under accelerated test conditions, and product development
• Principal investigator under a two-year research contract from the U.S. Department of Energy for exploring novel precursors to amorphous silicium for thin-film solar cells
• Contributor of essential physics expertise to a successful initiative to obtain a Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) research grant for the demonstration of an electrically controlled lens imaging system utilizing unique silicone properties
  
  

Other Activities and Skills

• Established a Physics Expertise Center within Dow Corning’s Central R & D organization with research groups in Europe and Japan, contributing to an extended understanding of silicone materials and the physics of the silicium bond.
• Designed and had built equipment for testing the flexibility resistance to repeated bending cycles of thin polymer and metal films using a novel design for simplifying test sample preparation. 
• Consulting in physics-related technical matters for individuals and companies
• Languages:  German (native), English (read, speak, write), French (read, speak)

 

Prizes, Awards, Honors

• Dow Corning Technical Achievement Award 1995 for Research (Non-linear device characteristics)
• Dow Corning Technical Achievement Award 1996 for Research (Film drainage rate measurements)
• Dow Corning Silicone Research Award 1997 for Technical Report paper (Liquid thin film drainage)
• Fellow of the American Physical Society, Industrial and Applied Physics, 2008

 

Professional Services and Activities

• External Advisory Board, Science of Advanced Materials Ph.D. Program at Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan (since 2008)
• External Advisory Board, Center for Sensor Materials, NSF MRSEC at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan (2000–2002)
• Expert, Condensed Matter Physics, National Science Foundation, Directorate of Mathematics and Physics, Division of Materials Research (since 2001)
• Adjunct Professor of Physics at Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan (1998–2001)
• Judge in the Saginaw County Science and Engineering Fair (since 1994)
• Visiting Industrial Scientist at Michigan Technological University, Department of Physics, 1993 (on behalf of the Industrial Research Institute, Inc.)
• Chair of an American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) subcommittee on solar cell characterization using reference cells (1979 – 1983)

 

Memberships in Professional Societies

• APS - American Physical Society
• MRS - Materials Research Society
• DPG - Deutsche Physikalische Society
• EPS - European Physical Society
• SX - Sigma Xi

 

Selected Publications

• L. Zambov, K. Weidner, V. Shamamian, R. Camilletti, U. Pernisz, M. Loboda, G. Cerny, D. Gidley, R. Valley. Advanced chemical vapor deposition silicon carbide barrier technology for ultralow permeability applications.  Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum Surfaces and Films 2006, 24(5), 1706–1713.
• H. He, M. Deshpande, R.E. Brown, R. Pandey, U.C. Pernisz. Molecular modeling of water diffusion in amorphous SiC.  J. Appl. Phys. 2005, 98(2), 023519/5.
• M.W. Backer, U.C. Pernisz.  Photoexcitation and photoemission spectra of phenyl-substituted cyclosiloxanes.  ACS Symposium Series 2003, 838 (Synthesis and Properties of Silicones and Silicone-Modified Materials), 105–116.
• R. Franco, A. K. Kandalam, R. Pandey, U. C. Pernisz. Theoretical Study of Structural and Electronic Properties of Methyl Silsesquioxanes.   J. Phys. Chem. B, 2002, 106, 1709–1713.
• K.T. Nicholson, K.Z. Zhang, M.M. Banaszak Holl, F.R. McFeely, G. Calzaferri, U.C. Pernisz.  Formation of Mixed Layers Derived from Functional Silicon Oxide Clusters on Gold.  Langmuir 2001, 17(25), 7879–7885.
• Kenneth T. Nicholson, K. Z. Zhang, Mark M. Banaszak Holl, F. R. McFeely, U. C. Pernisz, “The Dynamic Nature of Hydridosilsesquioxane Clusters on Gold Surfaces”, Langmuir 2000, 16(22) 8396-8403.
• Schneider, K. S.; Zhang, Z.; Banaszak Holl, M. M.; Orr, B. G.; Pernisz, U. C., “Determination of Sphero­siloxane Cluster Bonding to Si(100)-2×1 by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 2000, 85(3), 602-605.  
• Wen-Dan Cheng, Kai-Hua Xiang, Ravindra Panday, Udo C. Pernisz, “Calculations of Linear and Nonlinear Optical Properties of H–Silsesquioxanes”, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2000, 104(29) 6737–674.  
• Udo Pernisz and Norbert Auner, “Photoluminescence of Organically Modified Cyclosiloxanes”, in: Organosilicon Chemistry IV, ed. N. Auner & J Weis; Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2000, p. 505–520. 
• Udo Pernisz, Norbert Auner, and Michael Backer, “Photoluminescence of Phenyl- and Methylsubstituted Cyclosiloxanes”, ACS Symp. Ser. 729 (Silicones and Silicon-Modified Materials), ed. S.J. Clarson, J.J. Fitzgerald, M.J. Owen, S.D. Smith, Washington 2000, p. 115–127.
• Braun, R. J.; Snow, S. A.; Pernisz, U. C., “Gravitational Drainage of a Tangentially-Immobile Thick Film”, J. Colloid Interface Sci., 1999, 219(2), 225-240. 
• Xiang, Kai-Hua; Pandey, Ravindra; Pernisz, Udo C.; Freeman, Clive, ”Theoretical Study of Structural and Electronic Properties of H-Silsesquioxanes”, J. Phys. Chem. B 1998, 102(44), 8704–8711.
• Fraas, Lewis M.; Ferguson, Luke; McCoy, Larry; Pernisz, Udo C., ”SiC IR emitter design for thermophotovoltaic generators”, AIP Conf. Proc.  1996, 358 (Second NREL Conference on Thermophotovoltaic Generation of Electricity, 1995),  p. 488–494. 
• Ostrowski, Leon J.; Pernisz, Udo C.; Fraas, Lewis M., ”Thermophotovoltaic energy conversion: Technology and market potential”, AIP Conf. Proc. 1996, 358 (Second NREL Conference on Thermophotovoltaic Generation of Electricity, 1995), p. 251–260. 
• M.S. El-Shall, S. Li, T. Turkki, D. Graiver, U.C. Pernisz, and M.I. Baraton, “Synthesis and Photolumi­nescence of Weblike Agglomeration of Silica Nanoparticles”, J. Phys. Chem.  1995, 99 (51) 17805.
• El-Shall, M. Samy; Graiver, D.; Pernisz, U., ”Synthesis of nanostructured materials using laser vaporization/condensation technique”, Polym. Mater. Sci. Eng. 1995, 73, 37–38,  
• U.C. Pernisz, “Electronic Conduction of Non-Dense Silica Thin Films”, in: Proc. ELECTROCERAMICS IV, 4th Int’l Conf. Electroceramics & Applications; 5-7 Sept. 1994, Aachen, Germany (ed. R. Waser); Verlag der Augustinus Buchhandlung, Aachen 1994, p. 823–826.
• Pernisz, Udo C.; Saha, Chandan K., ”Silicon carbide emitter and burner elements for a TPV converter”, AIP Conf. Proc.  1995,  321 (First NREL Conference on Thermophotovoltaic Generation of Electricity, 1994), p. 99–105. 
• U. Pernisz, J. D’Errico and K. Sharp, “Electrical and Optical Properties of Amorphous Silicon Films Deposited From Fluorodisilanes”, Solar Cells 27, 391-401 (1989). 
• Udo Pernisz, “Device Characteristics of Cu2S/CdS Solar Cells During Degradation and Heat Treatment”, Conf.Proc. 16th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conf. (Sept. 82), IEEE, New York 1982, p.  864–865.

 

Invited Presentations

1.  Central Michigan Univ., Dept. Physics, Seminar, October 2002, Physics in the Chemical Industry – Activities of a Physicist Among Chemists, Materials Scientists, and Chemical Engineers
2.  APS March 1999 Mtg, on “Physics of the Silicon Bond in Electronic Materials” Symposium, on: Photoluminescence of organically modified Si-containing materials
3. 4th Münchner Silicontage (Munich Silicone Days) April 1998, Photoluminescence of organically modified cyclosiloxanes
4.  1st Annual Southern Illinois Materials Chemistry Confererence, 1998, Photoluminescence of Phenylated Siloxanes and Silacyclobutanes
5.  Wayne State Univ., Dept. Electrical & Comp. Engineering, Seminar, October 1997, Electrical Bistability of MIM Devices Prepared From H-Silsesquioxane
6.  Tokyo University, Graduate School of Engineering (K. Horie), Seminar, June1997, Electric Bistability in H-Silsesquioxane Thin Films
7.  Florida Advanced Materials Chemistry Conference (W. Rees), March 1997, Dependence of Gas-Solid Reaction Rate in H-Silsesquioxane–Derived Thin–Film Device on Electrode Potential
8.  Michigan Technological University – Seminar 1997 on Negative Differential Resistance and Bistability in MIM Devices Prepared from H-Silsesquioxane

 

Patents Issued

7,551,830    Impact resistant optical waveguide and method of manufacture thereof
6,136,156    Nanoparticles of silicon oxide alloys
6,018,002    Photoluminescent material from hydrogen silsequioxane resin
5,777,051    Photoluminescent silacyclobutene monomers and polymers
5,770,022    Method of making silica nanoparticles
5,541,248    Luminescent ceramic coating compositions
5,501,875    Metal coated silica precursor powders
5,422,982    Neural networks containing variable resistors as synapses
5,403,748    Detection of reactive gases
5,312,684    Threshold switching device
5,293,335    Ceramic thin film memory device
5,283,545    Variable resistors

Other patents related to those listed above are: 5,339,211; 5,348,773; 5,401,981; 5,580,655; 5,635,249; 5,695,617; 5,861,469; 5,891,548;  5,891,980; 5,962,132; 5,965,684; 6,184,304; 6,572,974;

BACK TO TOP