Andrew Konicek

Phone Number: 215-898-4591
Email: akonicek_at_sas.upenn.edu
Office: 112 Towne

Education:

Ph.D. Dissertator, Physics, (expected 2009), U. Pennsylvania
M.A., Physics, (2007), U. Wisconsin-Madison
B.A., Honors Physics, (2004), Gustavus Adolphus College

Research Interests:

My work focuses on the tribology of ultrahard carbon films with extreme properties. These films are excellent solid lubricant candidates for a wide variety of needs, but their environmental sensitivity hinders their ready use. Depending on the exact chemistry and structure of the film, exposure to inert or reactive environments can have an almost completely polar effect on their performance.

My main effort has been in carefully performing self-mated tribometry experiments with these films in environments with a controlled level of relative humidity (RH). Changing the RH level will change the tribological behavior of the film (e.g. reducing the humidity can increase the friction and wear, for some films). Then these wear scars are carefully examined to detect both mechanical and chemical changes caused by wear.

Publications:

Characterization of Microscale Wear in a Polysilicon-Based MEMS Device using AFM and PEEM-NEXAFS Spectromicroscopy.
D.S. Grierson, A.R. Konicek, G.E. Wabiszewski, A.V. Sumant, M.P. de Boer, A.D. Corwin, R.W. Carpick. Tribol. Lett., (2009).

Environmental Performance Limits of Ultrananocrystalline Diamond Films
M.A. Hamilton, A.R. Konicek, A.V. Sumant, D.S. Grierson, O. Auciello, W.G. Sawyer, R.W. Carpick. STLE/ASME Int. Joint Tribol. Conf. Proc., IJTC 2008, Miami, FL, Oct. 2008.

Origin of ultralow friction and wear in ultrananocrystalline diamond
A.R. Konicek, D.S. Grierson, P.U.P.A. Gilbert, W.G. Sawyer, A.V. Sumant, R.W. Carpick. Phys. Rev. Lett., 100, 235502/1-4 (2008).

Synthesis and characterization of smooth ultrananocrystalline diamond films via low pressure bias-enhanced nucleation and growth
Y.C. Chen, X.Y. Zhong, A.R. Konicek, D.S. Grierson, N.H. Tai, I.N. Lin, B. Kabius, J.M. Hiller, A.V. Sumant, R.W. Carpick, O. Auciello. App. Phys. Lett., 92, 133113/1-3 (2008).

Tribochemistry and material transfer for the ultrananocrystalline diamond-silicon nitride interface revealed by x-ray photoelectron emission spectromicroscopy
D.S. Grierson, A.V. Sumant, A.R. Konicek, M. Abrecht, J. Birrell, O. Auciello, J.A. Carlisle, T.W. Scharf, M.T. Dugger, P.U.P.A. Gilbert, and R.W. Carpick. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, 25, 1700-5 (2007).

Surface composition, bonding, and morphology in the nucleation and growth of ultra-thin, high quality nanocrystalline diamond films
A.V. Sumant, P.U.P.A. Gilbert, D.S. Grierson, A.R. Konicek, M. Abrecht, J.E. Butler, T. Feygelson, S.S. Rotter, R.W. Carpick, Diam. Rel. Mat., 16, 718-24 (2007).

Electron-phonon interaction at the Si(111)-7×7 surface
I. Barke, F. Zheng, A.R. Konicek, R.C. Hatch, F.J. Himpsel. Phys. Rev. Lett., 96, 216801/1-4 (2006).

Awards:

Conference Funding Award, May 2009, 64th Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
Best Paper, Sept. 2008, 2008 European Diamond Conference
Best Poster, Jul. 2008, Gordon Research Conference - Tribology
Physics Department Assistant, Spring 2004, Gustavus Adolphus Physics Department
Milward T. Rodine Memorial Physics Award, 2004, Gustavus Adolphus Physics Department
Trustee Scholarship, 2000-2004, Gustavus Adolphus College
Mayo Scholarship, 2000-2004, Mayo Clinic