Will S. Rees Professor; Director, Molecular Design Institute Office: 3-44 Boggs Phone: 404-894-4049 Fax: 404-894-1144 E-mail Will S. Rees

B.Sc., Texas Tech University, 1980; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1986; Postdoctoral fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Alexander von Humboldt Prize and elected fellow, American Institute of Chemists and Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry - 1998

Research Interests

Professor Rees' research interests are in the synthesis and characterization of inorganic and organometallic compounds for use in the preparation of electronic materials. This research heavily draws upon the knowledge and techniques of the classical areas of inorganic, organic, physical and analytical chemistry, as applied to a variety of issues in the realm of materials science. For example, careful design, synthesis, and purification of group two element-containing compounds having enhanced vapor pressures have permitted the growth of superconducting metal oxide thin films by low-temperature chemical vapor deposition, thereby potentially opening a marriage between these exciting materials and the more mature area of semiconducting electronics. A closely related avenue of exploration is focused on the preparation of electroluminescent phosphors for utilization in flat-panel displays, which are light-weight, full color, and exhibit intense brightness and acceptable efficiency. In a similar vein, silicon-based optoelectronics is under intense examination by Si:Er, and new precursors designed for preparation of p-type ZnSe are targeted for evaluation in the fabrication of blue optoelectronic devices.

These investigations, while rooted in traditional chemistry, often involve students in collaborations with an array of other scientists and engineers. As such, the students' depth of fundamental chemical principles becomes augmented by exposure to a breadth of additional concepts. Such combination of skills often results in the creation of a fertile and creative environment for achievement of research goals. Thus, students frequently expand beyond the reaches of classical chemistry subjects, and embrace additional areas, as required, for the successful execution of a specific project.

Recent Publications

Publications 1986-2004 [265KB PDF]

"Design and realization of a macromolecular viscosity control system," R. M. Kriegel, W. S. Rees, Jr. and M. Weck, Macromolecules, 2004, 37, 6644-6649.

"Development of inorganic materials for electronic applications: Achieving desired material properties through the symbiosis of chemistry, process, and equipment design," E. L. Mays and W. S. Rees, Jr., Proc. Int. Symp. Inorganic Materials: Recent Advances, (2002: Mumbai, India). RAIM 02, D. Bahadur, S. Vitta, O. Prakash, Eds., 2004, 1-8.

"A general route to tin-nitrogen heterocubanes," J. F. Eichler, O. Just and W. S. Rees, Jr., Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Silicon, 2004, 179(4-5), 715-726.

"The design and synthesis of heterometallic alkoxide-amides and their application in the MOCVD of zirconium-tin-titanate (ZTT), J. F. Eichler, O. Just and W. S. Rees, Jr., J. Materials Chemistry, 2004, 14, 3139-3143.

"A general route to M4N4 heterocubanes: Synthesis and crystal structure of [M(µ3-NSiMe3)]4 (M=Ge, Pb)," J. F. Eichler, O. Just and W. S. Rees, Jr., Modern Aspects of Main Group Chemistry, ACS Symp. Book Series, in press.

"Deposition, characterization of zirconium tin titanate thin films as a potential high-k material for electronic devices," E. L. Mays, D. W. Hess, W. S. Rees, Jr., J. Cryst. Grwth., 2004, 261, 309-315.

"Optical properties of bulk, epitaxial ZnO for waveguide applications," S. Ganesan, Z. C. Feng, D. Mehta, K. Shalini, E. J. Wornyo, W. M. Nemeth1, W. S. Rees, J. Nause,, I. Ferguson, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc., 2004, 299, Z8.10.1

"Chemical vapor deposition of zirconium tin titanate: A dielectric material for potential microelectronics applications," Proc. Int. Conf. Chem. Vapor Depos., (16th: 2003: Paris, France). EUROCVD 14, M. D. Allendorf, F. Maury, F. Teyssandier, Eds., 2003, 2003-08, 855.

"Trans ruthenium (ii) complexes with NH-bridged tetradentate symmetric, asymmetric polypyridyl ligands," J. Concepcion, O. Just, A. M. Leiva, B. Loeb, W. S. Rees, Jr., Inorg. Chem. 2002, 41(23), 5937-5939.

"Synthesis, structural characterization and dynamic behavior of group 12 metals containing the sterically hindered ligand [N(t-Bu)CH(t-Bu)CHN-tBu]-," S. D. Bunge, O. Just, W. S. Rees, Jr., Polyhedron, 2001, 20, 823-830.

"Headspace analysis of engine oil by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry," D. M. Levermore, M. Josowicz, W. S. Rees Jr., J. Janata, Anal. Chem., 2001, 73, 1361-1365.

"Ligand design for stabilization of group 2 element compounds by intramolecular coordination," O. Just, W. S. Rees, Jr., Phosphorus Sulfur, 2001, 168, 215-225.

"Low-coordinate volatile Group 12 amides: Syntheses and crystal structure determinations of dimeric {M{N[Si(CH3)2CH2CH2Si(CH3)2]}2}2 (M=Zn, Cd) and monomeric Hg{N[Si(CH3)2CH2CH2Si(CH3)2]}2," O. Just, D. A. Gaul, W. S. Rees, Jr., Polyhedron, 2001, 20, 815-821.

"Syntheses and single-crystal x-ray diffraction examination of a structurally homologous series of tetracoordinate heteroleptic anionic lanthanide complexes: Ln{[Si(CH3)2CH2CH2Si(CH3)2]}3(µ-CI)Li(L)3 [Ln=SM, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb; (L)3=(THF)3, (Et2O)3, (THF)2(Et2O)],"O. Just, W. S. Rees, Jr., Inorg. Chem., 2001, 40, 1751-1755.

"Synthesis and magnetic and structural characterization of the first homoleptic lanthanide beta-ketoiminate (vol 39, pg 3736, 2000)," W. S. Rees, O. Just, S. L. Castro, J. S. Matthews, Inorg. Chem., 2001, 40, 1402-1402.

"A quadruply stranded alkaline earth metal containing helical catenate: a charge-neutral heterotopic homodinuclear [2]catenane," S. L. Castro, O. Just, W. S. .Rees, Angew. Chem.-Int. Edit., 2000, 39, 933-936.

"Group 2 element precursors for the chemical vapor deposition of electronic materials," J. S. Matthews, W. S. Rees Jr., Adv. Inorg. Chem., 2000, 50, 173-192.

"Chemical vapor deposition of MgO from a Mg( -ketoiminate)2: Preparation, characterization and utilization of an intramolecularly stabilized, highly volatile, thermally robust precursor," J. S. Matthews, O. Just, B. Obi-Johnson, W. S. Rees Jr., Adv. Mater., CVD, 2000, 6, 129-132.

"Reinvestigation of the crystal structure of bis(trimethylsilyl)mercury," N. L. Pickett, O. Just, D. G. vanDerveer, W. S. Rees Jr., Acta Crystallographica, 2000, Sec. C, 56, Pt 4, 412-413.

"Design, synthesis and characterization of precursors for chemical vapor deposition of oxide-based electronic materials," O. Just, B. Obi-Johnson, J. S. Matthews, D. Levermore, T. Jones, W. S. Rees Jr., Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Materials Research Society: Boston, MA, 2000, 606, 3-12.

"Synthesis, magnetic and structural characterization of the first homoleptic lanthanide -ketoiminate," W. S. Rees Jr., O. Just, S. L. Castro, J. S. Matthews, Inorg. Chem., 2000, 39, 3736-3737.

"Dichloro(tetrahydrofuran-O)[(trimethylsilyl)amino-N]gallium(III)," N. L. Pickett, O. Just, D. G. VanDerveer, W. S. Rees Jr., Acta Crystallographica, 2000, C56, 560-561.

"Synthesis and structural characterization of a volatile, intramolecularly coordinated monomeric homoleptic magnesium alkylamide," H. Luten, O. Just, W. S. Rees Jr., Chem. Commun., 2000, 9, 735-736.

"True blue inorganic optoelectronic devices," D. A. Gaul, W. S. Rees Jr., Adv. Mater., 2000, 12, 935-946.

"Synthesis and x-ray crystal structure of [{Au[ -N(SiMe3)2]}4]: The first example of a base-free gold amide," S. Bunge, O. Just, W. S. Rees Jr., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2000, 39, 3082-3084.

"Investigation of the mechanism of sol-gel formation in the Sr(NO3)2/citric acid/ethylene glycol system by solution state 87Sr nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy," X. Li, V. Agarwal, M. Liu, W. S. Rees Jr., J. Mater. Res., 2000, 15, 2393-2399.