Dr. John Trey Diulus

Trey is currently a postdoc in Prof. Osterwalder’s group at Universität Zürich (UZH). He obtained his BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida (Gainesville, FL, USA) and his PhD from Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR, USA) also in Chemical Engineering.  As an undergraduate student in Prof. Jason Weaver’s group at the University of Florida, he began his research tenure in the field of surface science by studying the kinetics of multiple adsorbates on a PdO(101)/Pd(111) system, which can be utilized as an oxidation catalyst for a wide range of applications. Throughout his PhD studies in Prof. Greg Herman’s group at Oregon State University, he became an expert in numerous surface characterization techniques and studied multiple areas of surface chemistry, specifically for semiconductor processing (mechanistic analysis of interactions during extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure to organometallic photoresists), fundamental catalysis (In Situ chemical analysis of 2-propanol oxidation on a SnO2(110) single crystal), and thin-film characterization applications (surface characterization of co-sputter deposited NiGa, CoGe, and TaWSi thin films). During his tenure as a PhD student, he co-led the Nanopatterning student research team as part of the NSF funded Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry. He additionally temporarily worked as the point-of-contact and system maintainer for two ultra-high vacuum (UHV) systems in Prof. Herman's lab, equipped with multiple characterization techniques and open to external users.

Trey is currently a postdoc in Prof. Jürg Osterwalder’s group at the University of Zurich and works as a guest scientist at the Paul Scherrer Institute. All of his research constitutes using AP-XPS with both the In Situ Spectroscopy (X07DB) and Phoenix (X07MA) beamlines at the Swiss Light Source. In this position, he is studying well defined single crystalline metals and metal oxides In Operando using the newly developed Solid Liquid Interface Chemistry (SLIC) endstation.

Trey’s research background focuses on the fundamental aspects of molecule surface interactions. He has given 20+ scientific presentations and has 15+ peer-reviewed publications in his initial tenure as a researcher. Trey is proficient at using multiple surface characterization techniques, including temperature programmed desorption (TPD), electron stimulated desorption (ESD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

Much of his PhD research focused on the characterization of low energy radiation interactions with radiation sensitive materials. For these studies he utilized low energy photons, primarily in the soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region, for XPS and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) analysis of organometallic clusters. These clusters can efficiently absorb photons at energies of ~92 eV and have been proposed for next generation EUV photoresists utilized in semiconductor chip manufacturing. Trey has worked closely with Intel on the characterization of these materials and has contributed to several industrial reviews. He was awarded first prize at the Graduate Student Poster Competition during the Pacific Northwest American Vacuum Society meeting in 2018 based on his work.

Trey has more recently investigated the interaction of 2-propanol on SnO2(110) surfaces. The goal of these efforts was to further understand the catalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds using operando experiments. Trey developed new methods for performing these experiments using the SPECS AP-XPS system at Oregon State University, and monitored the reaction product distribution depending on surface preparation, sample temperature, and reaction mixtures. Results of this research were accepted in early 2020 in the special issue of The Journal of Chemical Physics, and was promoted as an Editor’s Pick.

• FP-RESOMUS Fellow as part of the NCCR-MUST and the Cluster of Excellence RESOLV (2020)
• Most Outstanding Graduate Student, OSU-CBEE Department Award (2019)
• American Vacuum Society Morton M. Traum Surface Science Student Award Finalist (2018)
• AVS 65th Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Travel Grant (2018)
• Graduate Student Poster Competition 1^st Prize at Pacific NW-AVS (2018)
• Kokes Awardee, 25th North American Catalysis Society Meeting (2017)
• OSU Graduate School Travel Award (2017)
• University of Florida University Scholars Program Fellow (2014)

15. Diulus, J. T.; Frederick, R. T.; Lyubinetsky, I.; Hutchison, D. C.; Nyman, M.; Herman, G. S. “Effect of Ambient Conditions on Organotin EUV Photoresist Radiation Chemistries,” ACS Applied Nano Materials, 3 (3), 2266 (2020)

14. Diulus, J. T.; Addou, R.; Herman, G. S.; “Surface Chemistry of 2-Propanol and O2 Mixtures on SnO2(110) Studied with Ambient-Pressure X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy,” Journal of Chemical Physics, 152, 054713 (2020)

13. Stoerzinger, K. A.; Enman, L. J.; Cochran, E. A.; Diulus, J. T.; Frederick, R. T.; Artyushkova, K.; Crumlin, E. J.; Herman, G. S.; Boettcher, S. W. “Understanding Surface Reactivity of Amorphous Transition-Metal-Incorporated Aluminum Oxide Thin Films,” Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 123 (44), 27048 (2019)

12. Wu, F.; Harper, B. J.; Marsh, D. A.; Saha, S.; Diulus, T.; Amador, J. M.; Keszler, D. A.; Herman, G. S.; Maddux, B. L. S.; Harper, S. L. “Monoalkyl Tin Nano-Cluster Films Reveal a Low Environmental Impact under Simulated Natural Conditions,” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 38 (12), 2651–2658. (2019)

11. Frederick, R. T.; Diulus, J. T.; Hutchison, D. C.; Nyman, M.; Herman, G. S. “Effect of Oxygen on Thermal and Radiation Induced Chemistries in Organotin Photoresists,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 11 (4), 4514, (2019)

10. Diulus, J. T.; Frederick, R. T.; Li, M.; Hutchison, D. C.; Olsen, M. R.; Lyubinetsky, I.; Árnadóttir, L.; Garfunkel, E. L. Nyman, M.; Ogasawara, H.; Herman, G. S. “In situ study of radiation induced chemistries of organotin clusters,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 11 (2), 2526, (2019)

9. Pfau, A. J.; Diulus, J. T; He, S.; Albuquerque, G. H.; Stickle, W. F.; Herman, G. S. “Oxidation of CoGe Thin Films Studied Using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy,” Applied Surface Science, 469, 298, (2019)

8. Frederick, R. T.; Saha, S.; Diulus, J. T.; Luo, F.; Amador, J. M.; Li, M.; Park, D. H.; Garfunkel, E. L.; Keszler, D. A.; Herman, G. S. “Thermal and radiation chemistry of butyltin oxo hydroxo: A model inorganic photoresist,” Microelectronic Engineering, 205, 26, (2018)

7. He, S.; Pfau, A. J.; Diulus, J. T.; Albuquerque, G. H.; Herman, G. S. “Deposition and characterization of nickel gallium thin films,” Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, 36, 031402, (2018)

6. Frederick, R. T.; Diulus, J. T.; Lyubinetsky, I.; Hutchison, D. C.; Olsen, M. R.; Nyman, M.; Herman, G. S. “Surface characterization of tin-based inorganic EUV resists,” SPIE Advances in Patterning Materials and Processes XXXV, 1058607, (2018)

5. Stoerzinger, K. A.; Du, Y.; Ihm, K.; Zhang, K. H. L.; Cai, J.; Diulus, J. T.; Frederick, R. T.; Herman, G. S.; Crumlin, E. J.; Chambers, S. A. “Impact of Sr-Incorporation on Cr Oxidation and Water Dissociation in La(1–x)SrxCrO3,” Advanced Materials Interfaces, 5, 1701363, (2018)

4. Saha, S.; Park, D.-H.; Hutchison, D.; Zakharov, L.; Marsh, D.; Goberna-Ferron, S.; Frederick, R.; Diulus, J. T.; Kenane, N.; Olsen, M.; Herman, G.; Johnson, D.; Keszler, D.; Nyman, M.; “Alkyltin Keggin Clusters Templated by Na,” Angewandte Chemie, Int. Ed, 56, 10140, (2017)

3. Zhang, F.; Pan, L.; Choi, J.; Mehar, V.; Diulus, J. T.; Asthagiri, A.; Weaver, J. F.; “Propane σ-Complexes on PdO(101): Spectroscopic Evidence of the Selective Coordination and Activation of Primary C-H Bonds,” Angewandte Chemie, Int. Ed., 54, 13907, (2015)

2. Choi J.; Pan L.; Zhang F.; Diulus J. T.; Asthagiri A; Weaver J. F.; “Molecular adsorption of NO on PdO(101),” Surface Science, 640, 150-158, (2015)

1. Zhang F.; Pan L.; Li T.; Diulus J. T.; Asthagiri A; and Weaver J. F; "CO Oxidation on PdO(101) During Temperature Programmed Reaction Spectroscopy: Role of Oxygen Vacancies," Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 118 (49), 28647, (2014)