Prof. Alon Hoffman completed his D.Sc. at the Technion in 1987. Following three years as a postdoc at Pittsburgh University (USA) and RMIT (Australia) and two years as a research scientist at ANSTO, he joined the Chemistry Department at the Technion in 1992 as a Senior Lecturer. In 1997, Alon was promoted to associate professor and in 2007 to Full Professor, and also spent sabbaticals in France, Italy, China, and Australia.
In parallel to teaching during the years, Alon was involved in the Technion management at nearly all levels, including Head of Department, Faculty, and Deputy Vice President. Alon has established a research effort at the Technion in surface science and thin films. His research activities can be divided into two main groups: (i) Basic research supported by science foundation agencies and (ii) applied research supported by industry. Alon was an adviser to more than 40 graduate (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) students who hold academic and industrial positions in Israel and other parts of the world.
The basic research carried out in his laboratory can be divided into the following subjects: chemical and physical properties of diamond surfaces; interaction of molecules, low-energy ions, electrons, photons, and plasmas with diamond surfaces; electron emission from diamond surfaces; nucleation and growth of diamond film; and nano-crystalline diamond films. The applied research involves developing diamond film deposition processes onto steel and WC-Co substrates and secondary electron emission. He has published well over 300 original research papers in refereed scientific journals, several book chapters, and review papers with over 9000 citations. During the years, he presented studies in several international conferences as posters, and oral presentations (invited and keynote). At the Chemistry Department Alon has established unique laboratories which include: a laboratory for deposition of diamond films by chemical vapor deposition methods; microscopy laboratory furnished with optical and scanning probe microscopes, and a surface science laboratory with two unique ultra high vacuum systems equipped with state of the art surface analytical methods including mass spectrometry and various electron spectroscopy methods.
In addition, Alon is a father of four grown-ups (Adam, Ilana, Talia, and Tamar), grandfather of five (Michael, Zohar, Nur, Aurelia nd Ory-On). He loves meeting people from different cultures and nations, nature hiking, visiting new places and travelling the world.
- Surface science,
- Electron spectroscopy
- Diamond surfaces
- Interaction of hydrogen
- Oxygen and nitrogen with diamond surfaces
- Nitrogen delta doping
- Diamond nucleation and growth by CVD
- “Sub-surface nitrogen bonding and thermal stability of low-energy nitrogen implanted H-diamond (100) surfaces studied by XPS and HREELS”, Mohan Kumar Kuntumalla, Miriam Fischer, and Alon Hoffman, Surf. Science, 739 (2024) 122399.
- “Subsurface nitrogen bonding, thermal stability, and retention of 200 eV N2+ implanted polycrystalline diamond studied by in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy”. Miriam Fischer, Sayantan Maity, Mohan Kumar Kuntumalla, Gilad Gani and Alon Hoffman, Appl Surface Science 657 (2024) 159740.
- “Depth Profiling of Microwave Nitrogen-Terminated Polycrystalline Diamond Surfaces by energy-dependent X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy”, Arsène Chemin, Mohan Kumar Kuntumalla, Maria Brzhezinskaya, Tristan Petit and Alon Hoffman, Appl. Surf. Science 661 (2024) 160082.
- “Dynamic Annealing and Near Surface Nitrogen Bonding Stabilization by High Temperature and Low Energy Nitrogen Implantation into Polycrystalline Diamond Sub-surface Region”, Miriam Fischer, Mohan Kumar Kuntumalla, Sayantan Maity, and Alon Hoffman, J. Chem. Phys. 161, 144705 (2024)
- “Nitrogen-Terminated Milled Nanodiamond Surfaces by Plasma Exposure”, Mohan Kumar Kuntumalla, Arsène Chemin, Marie Finas, Hugues A. Girard, Shaul Michaelson , Tristan Petit, Jean-Charles Arnault and Alon Hoffman, J. Phys. Chem. C. 128(2024)37, 15573-15582.
- “Nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen bonding and thermal stability of ambient exposed nitrogen-terminated H-diamond (111) surfaces by XPS and HREELS”, Mohan Kumar Kuntumalla, Shaul Michaelson and Alon Hoffman, Surf. Science, 749(2024), 12255.
- “Impact of acid etching on surfaces and near-surface region in nitrogen plasma terminated polycrystalline diamond”. Mohan Kumar Kuntumalla*, Arsène Chemin, Nitzan Matos Doron, Maria Brzhezinskaya, Tristan Petit and Alon Hoffman*, Diam. Rel. Mat., 158(2025) 112623.
- “Bonding and thermal recovery of 50 eV N sub-planted diamond near surface region by XPS and HREELS ”, Sayantan Maity*, Amaresh Das, Miri Fisher, Mohan Kumar Kuntumalla and Alon Hoffman*, Diam. Rel. Mat. 157 (2025) 112490
- “Ultra-Low Energy Nitrogen Ion Interactions with Diamond Surfaces: Impact of Crystal Orientation on Bonding and Thermal Stability”. Amaresh Das*, Sayantan Maity, Shaul Michaelson, Mohan Kumar Kuntumalla, and Alon Hoffman*, J. App. Physics, Appl. Phys.138, 055306 (2025)
- “Impact of Annealing and Nano structuring on Properties of NV Canters Created by Different Techniques”, Miriam Mendoza Delgado, Lucas Tsunaki, Shaul Michaelson, Mohan K. Kuntumalla, Johann P. Reithmaier, Alon Hoffman, Boris Naydenov, Cyril Popov*. Diam. Rel. Mat. 154(2025) 112126 .