Prof. Maria Carmen Asensio, Materials Science Institute of Madrid – CSIC, Spain
Prof. Maria Carmen Asensio is a leading solid-state physicist and Permanent Research Staff at the Institute of Material Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC), Spain. She is the co-founder of the Research Associated Unit MATINÉE and a global expert in synchrotron radiation techniques. Her innovations include the development of the nanoARPES technique for chemical and electronic imaging. With over 265 publications and more than 11,500 citations, she is recognized internationally for her contributions to condensed matter physics. Her collaborative work spans multiple prestigious institutions across Europe, and she plays key roles in scientific leadership, editorial boards, and European research evaluation panels. 🌍📚
Publication Profile
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🎓 Education
Prof. Asensio began her academic journey in Argentina, where she earned her foundational degrees in physics. She further advanced her academic career in Europe, undertaking postdoctoral research at the University of Warwick (UK) and the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (Germany). Her interdisciplinary training across premier European laboratories solidified her expertise in spectroscopic methods and materials science. This diverse academic foundation equipped her with the skills to pioneer advanced techniques in synchrotron-based photoemission and solid-state physics, culminating in significant contributions to the electronic structure of novel materials. 🎓🇦🇷🇬🇧🇩🇪
💼 Experience
Prof. Asensio has held prestigious roles including Senior Lecturer at the Autonomous University of Madrid, and postdoctoral fellow at Warwick and the Fritz Haber Institute. Since 1992, she has been a senior member of the GREENER group at ICMM-CSIC, Spain. She has directed major European research projects, chaired the IUVSTA Surface Science Division since 2016, and served as Scientific Director of IUVSTA from 2004 to 2007. As an evaluator for the European Research Council (ERC) and editorial board member of several journals, she has contributed significantly to research governance and scientific development across Europe. 🧪🌐
🏆 Awards and Honors
Prof. Asensio has received six SEXENIOS (Exceptional Productivity Supplements) from the Spanish Government in recognition of sustained research excellence. She was elected Scientific Director of IUVSTA and currently chairs its Surface Science Division. She has supervised numerous award-winning PhD theses and postdoctoral researchers supported by prestigious programs like Marie Curie and CNRS. Her impactful publication on silicene alone has over 3600 citations. Her continuous recognition by institutions like the ERC and international journals underscores her global scientific influence and the pioneering quality of her work in photoemission and advanced materials. 🥇🔖
🧪 Research Focus
Prof. Asensio’s research centers on the electronic and structural characterization of advanced materials using synchrotron radiation techniques such as ARPES, SR-PES, and XAS. Her groundbreaking work in developing nanoARPES allows for nanoscale chemical and electronic imaging. She investigates Fermi surface topology, low-dimensional materials, and electronic instabilities at surfaces and interfaces. Her studies have advanced understanding of graphene, silicene, and other 2D systems, making her a global leader in condensed matter physics and spectroscopic innovation. Her work bridges fundamental physics with instrumentation development for next-generation materials. 🔬📡📊
Publication Top Notes
📖 Silicene: compelling experimental evidence for graphenelike two-dimensional silicon 🔢 4280 📅 2012
📖 Band Alignment and Minigaps in Monolayer MoS₂-Graphene van der Waals Heterostructures 🔢 366 📅 2016
📖 Towards high quality CVD graphene growth and transfer 🔢 339 📅 2015
📖 Quasicrystalline 30° twisted bilayer graphene as an incommensurate superlattice 🔢 245 📅 2018
📖 Evidence of Dirac fermions in multilayer silicene 🔢 233 📅 2013
📖 Black arsenic: a layered semiconductor with extreme in‐plane anisotropy 🔢 232 📅 2018
📖 Topology of the Pseudogap and Shadow Bands in cuprates at optimum doping 🔢 231 📅 1997
📖 Dynamical fluctuations as the origin of a surface phase transition in Sn/Ge(111) 🔢 221 📅 1999
📖 Direct Observation of Interlayer Hybridization in Graphene/MoS₂ heterostructures 🔢 204 📅 2015
📖 Charge Density Wave State Suppresses Ferromagnetic Ordering in VSe₂ Monolayers 🔢 189 📅 2019
📖 Self-aligned silicon quantum wires on Ag(110) 🔢 180 📅 2005
📖 Polycrystalline graphene with single crystalline electronic structure 🔢 176 📅 2014
📖 Observation of a 2D liquid of Fröhlich polarons at SrTiO₃ surface 🔢 172 📅 2015
📖 Chitosan-coated MIL-100(Fe) nanoparticles as bio-compatible nanocarriers 🔢 162 📅 2017