Devon Jakob (Fed)

Devon is a research chemist in the Nanoscale Spectroscopy Group in the Nanoscale Device Characterization Division. His research has focused on one principle: Ensuring nanoscale metrological techniques meet tomorrow’s industrial demands through innovative employment of atomic force microscopy (AFM) based metrologies.

Prior to joining NIST in 2021 as a postdoctoral fellow through the NIST Professional Research Experience Program collaboration with Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Devon was a lifelong resident of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He received his B.S. in chemistry at Moravian College (now Moravian University) and his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Lehigh University. Here, he worked on developing breakthrough innovations in nanoscale property mapping. His key achievement was the development of a novel paradigm for electrical property mapping with sub-10 nm spatial resolution (pulsed force Kelvin probe force microscopy, PF-KPFM). Moreover, he has worked on several notable AFM chemical mapping techniques such as PFIR, PTIR, PiFM, and has developed integrated imaging platforms for simultaneous acquisition of physical, compositional, and electrical properties – all with high and comparable spatial resolutions (e.g., PFIR-KPFM, PiFM-KPFM), important for unraveling the complex interplay of nanoscale properties and how their synergism influences important bulk material properties.

Since joining NIST, Devon has worked closely with Dr. Andrea Centrone to advance photothermal induced resonance (PTIR) – an AFM-based metrology for nanoscale compositional mapping and spectroscopy. He has been instrumental in extending the spectral range of NIST’s PTIR capabilities to include the visible and near-IR range, allowing for measurement of vibrational and electronic features with sub-10 nm resolution. Moreover, Devon’s work at NIST has led to improved experimental and theoretical insights into PTIR signal generation, which are foundational toward quantitative nanoscale PTIR analyses and material identifications. He has completed his postdoctoral fellowship and a NIST NRC Fellowship and has remained part of the Nanoscale Spectroscopy Group through the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

Devon has authored or co-authored 18 peer-reviewed publications (930+ citations), 2 review articles, and has presented at more than 15 global conferences and several invited talks. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, Microscopy Society of America, and Sigma Xi (NIST Chapter).

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