Associate Lab Director for Energy and Environmental Sciences Don DePaolo has announced the appointment of Jeff Neaton as the director of the Molecular Foundry, effective immediately.
After receiving his B.S. from the University of Minnesota and Ph.D. from Cornell University, Neaton spent three years in the Rutgers Physics Department, where he was a postdoctoral fellow. He joined the Berkeley Lab Molecular Foundry as a postdoc in 2003, prior to the construction of the building. In 2006 Neaton was appointed as a staff scientist in the Materials Sciences Division (MSD) and has served as the director of the Theory Facility at the Molecular Foundry since 2008, and as MSD Division Deputy for Science since early 2011.
Neaton is currently a senior scientist whose research interests center on computational nanoscience, in particular the development and application of methods for calculating the structural, spectroscopic, and transport properties of inorganic and molecular nanostructures, particularly at interfaces and contacts. Present areas of interest include the electronic properties of the metal-organic interface, hybrid silicon-organic interfaces, and single-molecule junctions; self-assembly; nanoparticle assemblies; photovoltaics; hydrogen storage; ultrathin epitaxial films of transition metal oxides, such as ferroelectrics and multiferroics; and structural and electronic phases of light elements under pressure.
From July 2012 to June 2013 Neaton served as acting director of MSD, which oversees the Molecular Foundry. He has served as acting director of the Foundry since June 2013.
