Klaus Kern

Biography

Klaus Kern is Professor Emeritus at EPFL and Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany. He also is Honorary Professor at the University of Konstanz, Germany. His present research interests are in nanoscale science, quantum technology and in microscopy at the atomic limits of space and time. He holds a chemistry degree and PhD from the University of Bonn and a honorary doctors degree from the University of Aalborg. After his doctoral studies he was staff scientist at the Research Center Jülich and visiting scientist at Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill before joining the Faculty of EPFL in 1991 and the Max Planck-Society in 1998. Professor Kern has authored and coauthored more than 700 scientific publications that have been cited more than 70‘000 times. He has served frequently on advisory committees to universities, professional societies and institutions and has received numerous scientific awards and honors, including the 2008 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize and the 2016 Van‘t Hoff Prize. Prof. Kern has also educated a large number of leading scientists in nanoscale physics and chemistry. During the past twenty-five years he has supervised one hundred PhD students and sixty postdoctoral fellows. Today, more than sixty of his former students and postdocs hold prominent faculty positions at Universities around the world.
      

Profile in Google Scholar

https://scholar.google.de/citations?hl=de&user=9FTiahEAAAAJ
           

Key Publications

Y. Luo, S. Sheng, A. Schirato, A. Martin-Jimenez, G. Della Valle, G. Cerullo, K. Kern, and M. Garg
Visualizing hot carrier dynamics by nonlinear optical spectroscopy at the atomic length scale
Nature Commun. 16, 4999 (2025)

Y. Luo, S. Sheng, M. Pisarra, A. Martin-Jimenez, F. Martin, K. Kern, and M. Garg
Selective excitation of vibrations in a single molecule
Nature Commun. 15, 6983 (2024)

K. Anggara, L. Sršan, T. Jaroentomeechai, X. Wu, S. Rauschenbach, Y. Narimatsu, H. Clausen, T. Ziegler, R. L. Miller, and K. Kern
Direct observation of glycans bonded to proteins and lipids at single molecule level
Science 382, 219 (2023)

S. Karan, H. Huang, C. Padurariu, B. Kubala, G. Morrás, A. Levy Yeyati, J. C. Cuevas, J. Ankerhold, K. Kern, and C. R. Ast
Superconducting Quantum Interference at the Atomic Scale
Nature Physics 18, 893 (2022)

M. Garg, A. Martin-Jimenez, M. Pisarra, Y. Luo, F. Martín, and K. Kern
Real-space subfemtosecond imaging of quantum electronic coherences in molecules
Nature Photonics 16, 196-202 (2021)

H. Ochner,  S. Szilagyi, S. Abb, J. Gault, C. V. Robinson, L. Malavolti, S. Rauschenbach, and K. Kern
Low-energy electron holography imaging of conformational variability of single-antibody molecules from electrospray ion beam deposition
Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 118, e2112651118 (2021)

X. Wu, M. Delbianco, K. Anggara, T. Michnowicz, A. Prado-Vargas, P. Bharate, S. Sen, M. Pristl, S. Rauschenbach, U. Schlickum, S. Abb, P.H. Seeberger, and K. Kern
Imaging Single Glycans
Nature 582, 375 (2020)

H. Huang, C. Padurariu, J. Senkpiel, R. Drost, A. Levy Yeyati, J.C. Cuevas, B. Kubala, J. Ankerhold, K. Kern, and C.R. Ast
Tunneling dynamics between superconducting bound states at the atomic limit
Nature Physics 16, 1227 (2020)

M. Garg and K. Kern
Attosecond coherent manipulation of electrons in tunneling microscopy
Science 367, 411 (2020)

C. Leon, A. Rosławska, A. Grewal, O. Gunnarsson, K. Kuhnke, and K. Kern 
Photon superbunching from a generic tunnel junction 
Science Advances 5, eaav4986 (2019)

A. Rosławska, P. Merino, C. Große, C.C. Leon,  O. Gunnarsson, M. Etzkorn, K. Kuhnke, and K. Kern
Single Charge and Exciton Dynamics Probed by Molecular-Scale-Induced Electroluminnescence
Nano Lett. 18, 4001 (2018)

L. Schlipf, T. Oeckinghaus, K. Xu, D.B.R. Dasari, A. Zappe, F. Fávaro de Oliveira, B. Kern, M. Azarkh, M. Drescher, M. Ternes, K. Kern, J. Wrachtup, and A. Finkler
Molecular quantum spin network controlled by a single qubit
Science Advances 3, e1701116 (2017)

P. Jacobson, M. Muenks, G. Laskin, O. Brovko, V. Stepanyuk, M. Ternes, and K. Kern
Potential Energy Driven Spin Manipulation via a Controllable Hydrogen Ligand
Science Advances 3, e1602060 (2017)
 
 J-N. Longchamp, S. Rauschenbach, S. Abb, C. Escher, T. Latychevskaia, K. Kern, and H-W. Fink
 Imaging proteins at the single-molecule level
 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 114, 1474 (2017)
 
 C.R. Ast, B. Jäck, J. Senkpiel, M. Eltschka, M. Etzkorn, J. Ankerhold, and K. Kern
 Sensing the Quantum Limit in Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy
 Nature Commun. 7, 13009 (2016)
 
 B. Wurster, D. Grumelli, D. Hötger, R. Gutzler, and K. Kern
 Driving the oxygen evolution reaction by nonlinear cooperativety in bimetallic coordination networks
 J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138, 3623 (2016)
 
 S Abb, L. Harnau, R. Gutzler, S. Rauschenbach, and K. Kern
 Two-Dimensional Honeycomb Network through Sequence-Controlled Self-Assembly of Oligopeptides
 Nature Commun. 7, 10335 (2016)
 
 P. Merino, C. Große, A. Roslawska, K. Kuhnke, and K. Kern
 Exciton dynamics of C60-based single-photon emitters explored by Hanbury Brown-Twiss scanning tunneling microscopy
 Nature Commun. 6, 8461 (2015)
 
 C. Grosse, A. Kabakchiev, T. Lutz, R. Froidevaux, F. Schramm, M. Ruben, M. Etzkorn, U. Schlickum, K. Kuhnke, and K. Kern
 Dynamic Control of Plasmon Generation by an Individual Quantum System
 Nano Letters 14, 5693 (2014)
 
 E. Schäfer-Nolte, L. Schlipf, M. Ternes, F. Reinhard, K. Kern, and J. Wrachtrup
 Tracking Temperature Dependent Relaxation Times of Individual Ferritin Nanomagnets with a Wide-band Quantum Spectrometer
 Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 217204 (2014)
 
 Ch.S. Kley, Ch. Dette, G. Rinke, Ch.E. Patrick, J. Cechal, S.J. Jung, M. Baur, M. Dürr, St. Rauschenbach, F. Giustino, S. Stepanow, and K. Kern
 Atomic-scale observation of multi-conformational binding and energy level alignment of ruthenium-based photosensitizers on TiO2 anatase
 Nano Letters 14, 563 (2014)
 
 D. Grumelli, B. Wurster, S. Stepanow, and K. Kern
 Nanocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction: a novel bio-inspired approach
 Nature Commun. 4, 2904 (2013)
 
 Y. Zhang, S. Kahle, T. Herden, C. Stroh, M. Mayor, U. Schlickum, M. Ternes, P. Wahl, and K. Kern
 Temperature and Magnetic Field Dependence of a Kondo System in the Weak Coupling Regime
 Nature Commun. 4, 2110 (2013)
 
 Z. Deng, N. Thontasen, N. Malinowski, G. Rinke, L. Harnau, S. Rauschenbach, and K. Kern
 A close look at proteins: Submolecular Resolution of Two- and Three-Dimensionally Folded Proteins at Solid Surfaces
 Nano Letters 12, 2452 (2012)
 
 S. Kahle, Z. Deng, N. Malinowski, C. Tonnoir, A. Forment-Aliaga, N. Thontasen, G. Rinke, D. Le, V. Turkowski, T.S. Rahman, S. Rauschenbach, M. Ternes, and K. Kern
 Addressing the Quantum Magnetism of Individual Manganese-12-Acetate Molecular Magnets Anchored at Surfaces
 Nano Letters 12, 518 (2012)
 
 J. Bork, Y.-H. Zhang, L. Diekhöner, L. Borda, P. Simon, J. Kroha, P. Wahl, and K. Kern
 A Tunable Two-impurity Kondo system in an atomic point contact
 Nature Physics 7, 901 (2011)
 
 S. Fabris, S. Stepanow, N. Lin, P. Gambardella, A. Dmitriev, J. Honolka, S. Baroni, and K. Kern 
 Oxygen Dissociation by Concerted Action of Di-Iron Centers in Metal-Organic Coordination Networks at Surfaces: Modeling Non-Heme Iron Enzymes
 Nano Letters 11, 5414 (2011)
 
 S. Bose, A. M. García- García, M. M. Ugeda, J. D. Urbina, C. H. Michaelis, I. Brihuega, and K. Kern
 Observation of shell effects in superconducting nanoparticles of Sn
 Nature Materials 9, 550 (2010)
 
 T.C. Tseng, C. Urban, Y. Wang, R. Otero, S. L. Tait, M. Alcamí, D. Écija, M. Trelka, J.M. Gallego, N. Lin, M. Konuma, U. Starke, A. Nefedov, C. Wöll, M. Ángeles-Herranz, F. Martín, N. Martín, K. Kern, and R. Miranda
 Charge Transfer-induced Structural Rearrangements at Both Sides of Organic/Metal Interfaces
 Nature Chemistry 2, 374 (2010)
 
 L. Vitali, G. Levita, R. Ohmann, A. Comisso, A. De Vita, and K. Kern
 Portrait of the potential barrier at metal-organic nanocontacts
 Nature Materials 9, 320 (2010)
 
 P. Gambardella, S. Stepanow, A. Dmitriev, J. Honolka, F. de Groot, M. Lingenfelder, S. Sen Gupta, D.D. Sarma, P. Bencok, S. Stanescu, S. Clair, S. Pons, N. Lin, A. P. Seitsonen, H. Brune, J. V. Barth and K. Kern
 Supramolecular control of the magnetic anisotropy in two-dimensional high-spin Fe arrays at a metal interface
 Nature Materials 8, 189 (2009)
 
 E. J. H. Lee, K. Balasubramanian, R.T. Weitz, M. Burghard and K. Kern
 Contact and edge effects in graphene devices 
 Nature Nanotechnology 3, 486 (2008)
 
 C. Gómez-Navarro, R.T. Weitz, A.M. Bittner, M. Scolari, A. Mews, M. Burghard, and K. Kern
 Electronic transport properties of individual chemically reduced graphene oxide sheets
 Nano Letters 7, 3499 (2007)
 
 C. R. Ast, J. Henk, A. Ernst, L. Moreschini, M.C. Falub, D. Pacilé, P. Bruno, K. Kern, and M. Grioni
 Giant spin splitting through surface alloying
 Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 186807 (2007)
 
 P. Wahl, P. Simon, L. Diekhöner, V.S. Stepanyuk, P. Bruno, M.A. Schneider, and K. Kern
 Exchange interaction between single magnetic atoms
 Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 056601 (2007)
 
 M. Lingenfelder, G. Tomba, G. Costantini, L. Colombi Ciacchi, A. De Vita, and K. Kern 
 Tracking the Chiral Recognition of Adsorbed Dipeptides at the Single Molecule Level 
 Angew. Chem. Intl. Ed. 119, 4576 (2007)
 
 G. Costantini, A. Rastelli, C. Manzano, P. Acosta-Diaz, R. Songmuang, G. Katsaros, O.G. Schmidt, and K. Kern
 Interplay between thermodynamics and kinetics in the capping of InAs/GaAs(001) quantum dots
 Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 226106 (2006)
 
 J.V. Barth, G. Costantini, and K. Kern, 
 Engineering atomic and molecular nanostructures at surfaces, 
 Nature 437, 671 (2005) 
 
 P. Wahl, L. Diekhöner, G. Wittich, L. Vitali, M.A. Schneider, and K. Kern 
 Kondo effect of molecular complexes at surfaces: Ligand control of the local spin coupling 
 Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 166601 (2005) 
 
 L. Vitali, M. Burghard, M.A. Schneider, L. Liu, S.Y. Wu, C.S. Jayanthi, and K. Kern, 
 Phonon spectromicroscopy of carbon nanostructures with atomic resolution, 
 Phys. Rev. Lett 93, 136103 (2004) 
 
 S. Stepanow, M. Lingenfelder, A. Dmitriev, H. Spillmann, E. Delvigne, N. Lin, X. Deng, C. Cai, J.V. Barth, and K. Kern, 
 Steering molecular organization and host-guest interactions using two-dimensional nanoporous coordination systems, 
 Nature Materials 3, 229 (2004) 
 
 M. Knez, A.M. Bittner, F. Boes, C. Wege, H. Jeske, E. Maiß, and K. Kern, 
 Biotemplate synthesis of 3nm Nickel and Cobalt nanowires, 
 Nano Letters 3, 1079 (2003) 
 
 P. Gambardella, S. Rusponi, M. Veronese, S.S. Deshi, G. Grazioli, A. Dallmeyer, I. Cabria, R. Zeller, P.H. Dederichs, K. Kern, C. Carbone, and H. Brune 
 Giant magnetic anisotropy of Co adatoms and nanoparticles on Pt(111), 
 Science 300, 1130 (2003) 
 
 S.E. Kooi, U. Schlecht, M. Burghard, and K. Kern, 
 Electrochemical modification of single carbon nanotubes, 
 Angew. Chem. Intl. Ed. 41, 1353 (2002) 
 
 P. Gambardella, A. Dallmeyer, K. Maiti, M.C. Malagoli, W. Eberhard, K. Kern, and C. Carbone, 
 Ferromagnetism in one-dimensional monatomic metal chains, 
 Nature 416, 302 (2002) 
 
 N. Knorr, H. Brune, M. Epple, A. Hirstein, M.A. Schneider, and K. Kern, 
 Long-range adsorbate interactions mediated by a two-dimensional electron gas, 
 Phys. Rev. B 65, 115420 (2002) 
 
 L. Nilsson, O. Gröning, C. Emmenegger, O. Küttel, E. Schaller, L. Schlapbach, H. Kind, J.M. Bonard, and K. Kern, 
 Scanning field emission from patterned carbon nanotube films, 
 Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 2071 (2000) 
 
 J.V. Barth, J. Weckesser, C. Cai, P. Günter, L. Bürgi, O. Jeandupeux, and K. Kern, 
 Building supramolecular nanostructures at surfaces by hydrogen bonding, 
 Angew. Chem. Intl. Ed. 39, 1230 (2000)
 
 L. Bürgi, O. Jeandupeux, H. Brune, and K. Kern, 
 Probing hot-electron dynamics at surfaces with a cold scanning tunneling microscope, 
 Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 4516 (1999) 
 
 H. Brune, M. Giovannini, K. Bromann, and K. Kern, 
 Self-organized growth of nanostructure arrays on strain relief patterns, 
 Nature 394, 451 (1998) 
 
 K. Bromann, Ch. Félix, H. Brune, W. Harbich, R. Monot, J. Buttet, and K. Kern, 
 Controlled deposition of size-selected Ag nanoclusters, 
 Science 274, 956 (1996) 
 
 H. Brune, H. Röder, C. Boragno and K. Kern, 
 Microscopic view of nucleation on surfaces, 
 Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 1955 (1994) 
 
 H. Röder, E. Hahn, H. Brune, J.-P. Bucher, and K. Kern, 
 Building one- and two-dimensional nanostructures via diffusion controlled aggregation at surfaces, 
 Nature 366, 141 (1993) 
 
 K. Kern, H. Niehus, A. Schatz, P. Zeppenfeld, J. George, and G. Comsa, 
 Long range spatial selforganization in the adsorbate induced restructuring of surfaces : Cu(110) - (2xl)O, 
 Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 855 (1991)