Matthew Linford

Dr. Linford focuses on surface modification and patterning of materials like silicon, polymers, and diamonds. Dr. Linford's research group collaborates with distinguished scientists and organizations around the world in researching materials.

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Matthew Linford graduated with a B.S. in chemistry from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1990 and received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in materials science & engineering and chemistry, respectively, from Stanford University in 1996. While at Stanford he published the first two papers on monolayers on hydrogen-terminated silicon with his adviser Chris Chidsey. By Google Scholar these two papers have been cited more than 800 and 1300 times to date. After a post-doc at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Golm (previously Berlin), Germany with Helmut Möhwald studying polyelectrolyte multilayers, Linford worked in industry for three years – one year with Rohm and Haas in Pennsylvania and two years with two start-up companies (SEQ, renamed Praelux in New Jersey, and NanoTex in California). In 2000, he took a position as a faculty member at Brigham Young University and is now a full professor there. While at BYU, Linford has studied thin film characterization with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), statistical methods for data analysis, new materials for separations science (chromatography), thin film deposition by atomic layer deposition and sputtering, new materials for long-term digital data storage, and the chemomechanical functionalization of silicon. His work in separations science led to the launch of the Flare chromatography column that was sold by Diamond Analytics. His work in data storage led him to co-found Millenniata (now Yours.co), which sells a DVD disc that lasts 1000 years and a Blu-ray disc that will last at least 300. Linford has more than 400 publications, which include peer-reviewed papers, conference proceedings, book chapters, peer-reviewed contributions to Surface Science Spectra, commercial application notes, tutorial articles, and more than 40 patents. He is an editor for Applied Surface Science, an Elsevier journal with an impact factor of ca. 6.2. He is a contributing editor for Vacuum Technology & Coating (VT&C) for which he writes a ca. monthly column on surface and material characterization. He has now written more than 80 of these articles, which often focus on XPS, SE, and informatics methods. Linford was an associate editor for Surface Science Spectra (SSS) from 2003 – 2019, and was made a member of the editorial board of SSS in 2019. In 2014 he became a fellow of the American Vacuum Society (AVS). In 2015 he was named an Alcuin Fellow at Brigham Young University (an award for excellence in teaching). By Google Scholar (‘Matthew Linford’, April, 2020 – note that these numbers can vary a little), he has more than 10,400 citations, his h-index is 46, and his i10-index is 139. His Erdös number is 4. His hobbies include tennis, piano/organ, and learning languages.