Department of Chemistry
Northwestern University
2145 Sheridan Rd
Evanston, IL 60208
ratner@northwestern.edu
847-491-5652
Mark A. Ratner is a materials chemist, whose work focuses on the interplay between molecular structure and molecular properties. This includes such aspects as molecular electronics, molecular optoelectronics, molecular systems design and biomolecular behavior, as well quantum and classical methodologies for understanding and predicting molecular structure and response. The major focus of his research for the last three decades has been the understanding of charge transfer and charge transport processes based on molecular structures, ranging from nonadiabatic intramolecular behavior to aspects of molecular devices, including photovoltaics, conductive polymers, molecular transport junctions and molecular switches.
His professional history involves undergraduate work at Harvard, graduate work at Northwestern, postdoctoral work at Aarhus and Munich, and faculty positions at New York University and Northwestern, serving as Chair of the Northwestern Chemistry Department twice. Mark also served as Co-director of ISEN (Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern) from 2008 to 2013 and he is now Professor Emeritus at Northwestern. He has very active international collaborations, particularly in Denmark, Israel and the Netherlands. He has been awarded the Feynman Prize, the Langmuir Award of the American Chemical Society, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and an annual canoe trip which puts all things back into perspective.
Highlighted Publications (900+ total)
- Electron transport in molecular wire junctions, Nitzan, A.; Ratner, M. A., Science 2003, 300, (5624), 1384-1389.
- Microscopic study of electrical transport through individual molecules with metallic contacts. I. Band lineup, voltage drop, and high-field transport, Xue, Y. Q.; Ratner, M. A., Physical Review B 2003, 68, (11).
- Molecular electronics: Some views on transport and beyond, Joachim, C.; Ratner, M. A, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2005, 102, (25), 8800-8800.
- Intermolecular charge transfer between heterocyclic oligomers. Effects of heteroatom and molecular packing on hopping transport in organic semiconductors, Hutchison, G. R.; Ratner, M. A.; Marks, T. J., Journal of the American Chemical Society 2005, 127, (48), 16866-16881.
- Single-molecule pulling and the folding of donor-acceptor oligorotaxanes: Phenomenology and interpretation, Franco, I.; Schatz, G. C.; Ratner, Journal of Chemical Physics 2009, 131, (12).
- Geometry and Electronic Coupling in Perylenediimide Stacks: Mapping Structure-Charge Transport Relationships, Vura-Weis, J.; Ratner, M. A.; Wasielewski, M. R., Journal of the American Chemical Society 2010, 132, (6), 1738-+.
- Exploring local currents in molecular junctions, Solomon, G. C.; Herrmann, C.; Hansen, T.; Mujica, V.; Ratner, M. A., Nature Chemistry 2010, 2, (3), 223-228.