Neal Armstrong

Over the last four decades the Armstrong group(s) have been primarily focused on enhancing our understanding of interfaces in materials and device platforms that are emerging (or have now emerged) as new technologies for solar energy conversion (solar cells), light emission (organic light emitting diodes), and chemical sensing platforms. We have played key roles in the development of new measurement science approaches to understanding the interfaces formed between these materials and metal, metal oxide and semiconductor electrical contacts, with primary emphasis on surface photoemission spectroscopies, electrochemistry and structural probes including X-ray diffraction, scanning probe microscopies and electron microscopies. As shown below the products of this scholarship have been 300+ peer-reviewed manuscripts and multiple patents and the training of 49 Ph.D., ca. 25 M.S. and more than 100 undergraduate students, postdocs and visiting scientists. None of this would have been possible without significant collaborations and leadership from a group of like-minded scholars and educators from the University of Arizona, and scholars from research institutes around the world, including their students, postdocs and research scientists. We anticipate this wealth of experience will add value to the articulation of the SPECS mission.