Professor of Physics
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Vanderbilt University
E-mail address: norman.tolk@vanderbilt.edu
Office Phone: (615)322-2786
Fax: (615)-343-1708
Research group: https://my.vanderbilt.edu/normantolk/

BIOGRAPHY:

Norman Tolk was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He earned his AB degree in physics from Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. degree in atomic physics from Columbia University in New York City. Following a postdoc at Columbia, he joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in New Jersey where he carried out experimental research on surface and interface physics using directed-energy photon and particle beams.

In 1984, he move to Vanderbilt University as a full Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He also became an Adjunct Professor of Physics at Fisk University. Early in his carreer at Vanderbilt, he headed the highly multidisciplinary group representing medicine, engineering biology and physics that wrote the successful proposal to fabricate a Free-Electron Laser (FEL) at Vanderbilt, following which he became acting director of the newly formed FEL center. This initiative resulted in the construction of a new building on the Vanderbilt campus solely dedicated to FEL research. In 1987 Dr. Tolk received the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award which provided the opportunity to perform research at the Free University in Berlin which happened to coincide with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Professor Tolk recently served as Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate and on an annual basis conducts performances of Handel’s Messiah which is a community event involving many Vanderbilt and community musicians.

Dr. Tolk is a Fellow of The American Physical Society, holds 8 patents, and is the author or co-author of 3 edited books and more than 270 papers. His research involves non-linear laser-surface and laser-interface interactions, ultra-fast vibrational and electronic vibrational processes at surfaces and interfaces, spin dynamics, desorption induced by electronic and vibrational processes, and atomic collision physics.

CURRICULUM VITAE:

DEGREES AWARDED:

• A.B. – Harvard College, 1956-60
  (Physics)
• Ph.D. – Columbia University,
  1960-66 (Physics)

FIELDS OF INTEREST:

• Experimental Physics
• Dynamics of Electronic
  Processes at Surfaces and Interfaces
• Spintronics
• Atomic Collision Physics
• Quantum Mechanical
  Phase-Interference Effects
• Linear and Nonlinear Laser
  Interactions with Surfaces and Interfaces
• Ultra-fast Dynamics in
  Condensed Matter Structures

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES:

• Second Harmonic Generation
• Vibrational lifetime of
  bond-centered hydrogen in Silicon
• PLE spectroscopy of mid-gap
  states in a:Si-H
• Photoablation of hydrogenated
  diamond
• Spintronics
• Low-energy ion-surface
  interactions.
• Hydrogen/deuterium electron and
  photon stimulated desorption.

CURRENT APPOINTMENTS:

• 1984-Present: Professor of
  Physics, Vanderbilt University, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy,
  Nashville, TN
• 1987-Present: Director,
  Vanderbilt Center for Atomic and Molecular Physics at Surfaces
• 1991-Present: Adjunct Professor
  of Physics, Fisk Univ., Dept. of Physics, Nashville, TN
• 1993-Present: Professor,
  Department of Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt
  University, Nashville, TN

PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS:

• 1966-1966 : Research Physicist,
  Columbia Radiation Lab., Dept. of Physics, Columbia University
• 1966-1967 : Research Associate,
  Columbia Radiation Lab., Dept. of Physics, Columbia University
• 1967-1968 :
  Lecturer, Dept. of Physics & Staff Member, Columbia Radiation Lab.,
  Columbia Univ.
• 1968-1969 :
  Adjunct Assistant Professor of Physics, Columbia U.
• 1968-1983 : Member, Technical
  Staff, Bell Telephone Lab., Murray Hill, NJ
• Summer 1975 : Visiting
  University Fellow, Australian National Univ., Canberra, Australia
• Summer 1978 : Visiting
  Scientist, Max-Planck-Institut fur Plasma-physik, Munchen, W. Germany
• 1984-1984 : Member, Technical
  Staff, Bell Communications Research, Murray Hill, NJ

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

• Fellow, American Physical Society.
• Founder and Member International Committee, International Workshops onDesorption Induced by Electronic Transitions (DIET).
• Consultant to Chemistry Division, Los Alamos National
  Laboratory, 1986-89
• Consultant to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Member
  PAC N-div. 1995-2000
• Member, American Vacuum Society, Bohmische Physical
  Society, American Optical Society.

PROFESSIONAL HONORS:

• 1987 – Alexander von Humboldt
  Senior Scientist Award
• 1957 – Harvard National
  Scholarship, General Motors College Scholarship, 1956-60, Brattle
  Scholarship

SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

1.
“ Reconfiguration and dissociation of
bonded hydrogen in silicon by energetic ions” S.
V. S. Nageswara Rao,, S. K. Dixit, G. Luepke, N. H. Tolk, and L.
C. Feldman. Phys. Rev. B 83 045204, January
2011

2.
“Polarization-dependent temporal behaviour of second
harmonic generation in Si/SiO2 systems,” H.
Park, J. Qi, Y. Xu, G. Lupke, and N. Tolk, J.
Opt. 13 (2011) 055202, February 2011

3.
“Multiphoton absorption in germanium using pulsed infrared free-electron laser radiation,”
D. Seo, J. M. Gregory, L. C. Feldman, N. H. Tolk, and P. I. Cohen, Phys. Rev. B, vol. 83, p. 195203, May 2011.

4.
“Mechanical and electronic properties of
ferromagnetic Ga_1−xMn_xAs using ultrafast coherent
acoustic phonons” J. Qi, J. A. Yan, H. Park, Y. Xu, A. Steigerwald, S. N. Gilbert, X. Liu, J. K. Furdyna, S. T. Pantelides, and N. Tolk. Phys. Rev. B 81 (11) 115208, February 2010

5.
“Giant Enhancement of Hydrogen Transport in Rutile TiO2 at Low Temperatures,” E. J. Spahr, L. Wen, M. Stavola, L. A. Boatner, L. C. Feldman, N. H. Tolk, and G. Lupke, Phys. Rev. Lett., 104, No. 20, Art. No. 205901, May 2010

6.
“Boron induced charge traps near the interface of Si/SiO₂ probed by second harmonic generation,” H. Park, J. Qi, Y. Xu, K. Varga, S. M. Weiss, B. R. Rogers, G. Lupke, and N. Tolk, Physica
Status Solidi. B, Basic research [0370-1972] vol.247 iss.8 pg.1997 -2001, August, 2010

7.
“Ultrafast carrier and phonon dynamics in Bi2Se3 crystals,” J. Qi, X. Chen, W. Yu, P. Cadden-Zimansky, D. Smirnov, N. Tolk, I. Miotkowski, H. Cao, Y. P. Chen, Y. Wu, S. Qiao, and Z. Jiang, Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, Art. No. 182102, November, 2010

8.
“Photon energy threshold for filling boron induced charge traps in SiO2 near the Si/SiO2 interface using second harmonic generation,” H. Park, Y. Xu, K. Varga, J. Qi, L. Feldman, G. Lupke, and N.
Tolk, Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, Issue 20, Art. No. 202105, November, 2010

9.
“Enhanced Photocurrent Production by Photosystem I Multilayer Assemblies,” P. N. Ciesielski, C. J. Faulkner, M. T. Irwin, J. M. Gregory, N. H. Tolk, D. E. Cliffel, and G. K. Jennings, Advanced Functional Materials, Volume: 20, Issue: 23,
Pages: 4048-4054, December, 2010

10.     “Ultrafast Laser-Induced Coherent Spin Dynamics In Ferromagnetic GaMnAs/GaAs Structure,” J. Qi, Y. Xu, A. Steigerwald, , X. Liu, J. K. Furdyna, and I. E. Perakis, N. Tolk. Phys. Rev. B 79 (4), Jan 2009.

11.     “Proton Tunneling: A Decay Channel of the O-H Stretch Mode in KTaO₃ ,” D. J. Spahr, L. Wen, M. Stavola, L. A. Boatner, L. C. Feldman, N. H. Tolk, and G. Lupke, Phys. Rev. Lett., 102, No. 7, Art. No. 075506, Feb 2009

12.     “Semiconductor Point Defect Concentration Profiles Measured Using Coherent Acoustic Phonon
Waves,” A. Steigerwald, Y. Xu, J. Qi, , J. Gregory, X. Liu, J. K. Furdyna, K. Varga, A. B. Hmelo, G. Lupke, L. C. Feldman and N. Tolk, Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, Issue 11, Art. No. 111910, Mar 16, 2009

13.     “Fe/NiO(100) and Fe/MgO(100) interfaces studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and non-linear Kerr effect,” S. Colonna, A. Cricenti, P. Luches, S. Valeri, F. Boscherini, J.
Qi, Y. Xu, and N. Tolk, Suface, Superlattices and Microstructures, 46, Pages, 107-113, Jul-Aug 2009

14.     “Characterization of boron charge traps at the interface of Si/SiO2 using second harmonic generation” H. Park, J. Qi, Y. Xu, K. Varga, S. M. Weiss, B. R. Rogers, G. Lupke, and N. Tolk, Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, Issue 6, Art. No. 062102, Aug 10, 2009

PATENTS:

• Method of Analyzing a Solid
  Surface from Photon Emissions of Sputtered Particles, U.S. Patent No.
  3,644,044.
• Apparatus and Method for
  Determining the Spatial Distribution of Constituents and Contaminants of
  Solids, U.S. Patent No. 3,767,925.
• Apparatus and Method for
  Determining Sputtering Efficiency, U.S. Patent No. 3,757,119.
• Apparatus and Method for
  Measuring the Intensity of a Beam of Neutral Atoms or Molecules, U.S.
  Patent No. 3,757,114.
• Method for Doping
  Semiconductors Bodies by Neutral Particle Implantation, U.S. Patent No.
  3,790,411.
• Method and Apparatus for Surface
  Characterization and Process Control Utilizing Radiation from Desorbed
  Particles, U.S. Patent No. 4,393,311.
• Method and Apparatus for
  Producing Neutral Atomic and Molecular Beams, U. S. Patent No. 4775789
  issued October 4, 1988.