Nanoprobe Group @ NIMS

Oscar CUSTANCE (Managing Researcher) ,

Publication list
1. O. Custance, M. González Lastre, K. Kim, E. Fernandez-Villanueva, P. Pou, M. Abe, H. Sepehri-Amin, S. Kawai, M. Veronica Ganduglia-Pirovano, R. Perez
   "Near-surface Defects Break Symmetry in Water Adsorption on CeO_2-x(111)"
   Commun. Mater. 2026, 7 39.
   
2. Z. Yuan, T. Kariyado, T. Murata, K. Sun, D. Lin, O. Custance, Y. Morita, S. Kawai
   "Spin States of Trioxotriangulene Controlled by Si-O Bond Formation and Dissociation on AuSi_x Surfaces"
   Nano Letters 2025, 25, 13040–13046.
3. K. Kim, M. Abe, S. Kawai, O. Custance
   "Exploring partially reduced CeO₂(111) surface at the atomic scale using Scanning Probe Microscopy "
   Science and Technology of Advanced Materials (STAM) 2025, 26, 2528596.
4. O. Custance, E. Ventura-Macias, O. Stetsovych, T. K. Shimizu, C. Romero-Muñiz, T. Shimizu, P. Pou, M. Abe, H. Hayashi, T. Ohkubo, S. Kawai, R. Perez
   "Structure and Defect Identification at Self-assembled Islands of CO₂ Using Scanning Probe Microscopy"
   ACS Nano 2024, 18, 26759−26769.
5. K. Sun, K. Sugawara, A. Lyalin, Y. Ishigaki, K. Uosaki, O. Custance, T. Taketsugu, T. Suzuki, S. Kawai
   "On-Surface Synthesis of Multiple Cu Atom-Bridged Organometallic Oligomers"
   ACS Nano 2023, 17, 24355–24362.
6. S. Kawai, O. J. Silveira, L. Kurki, Z. Yuan, T. Nishiuchi, T. Kodama, K. Sun, O. Custance, J. L. Lado, T. Kubo, A. S. Foster
   "Local Probe-Induced Structural Isomerization in a One-Dimensional Molecular Array"
   Nature Communications 2023, 14, 7741.
7. S. Kawai, K. Sugawara, Y. Ma, K. Sun, O. Custance, Y. Ishigaki, T. Suzuki
   "Multiple Molecular Interactions between Alkyl Groups and Dissociated Bromine Atoms on Ag(111)"
   Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2022, 24, 22191–22197.

Hironobu HAYASHI(Principal Researcher) ,
 Associate professor, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba 

Publication list
1. D. Li, M. Kumar, O. Stetsovych, B. Lowe, R. Sengupta, H. Hayashi, H. Maeda, P. Jelínek, S. Kawai
   "Spin State in Au-porphyrins Modulated by Charge Transfer on Au(111)"
   J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, 148, 13863−13870.
2. O. Custance, E. Ventura-Macias, O. Stetsovych, T. K. Shimizu, C. Romero-Muñiz, T. Shimizu, P. Pou, M. Abe, H. Hayashi, T. Ohkubo, S. Kawai, R. Perez
   "Structure and Defect Identification at Self-assembled Islands of CO₂ Using Scanning Probe Microscopy"
   ACS Nano 2024, 18, 26759−26769.
3. D. Li, O. J. Silveira, T. Matsuda, H. Hayashi, H. Maeda, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai
   "On-surface Synthesis of Triaza[5]triangulene through Cyclodehydrogenation and its Magnetism"
   Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202411893.

Nobuyuki ISHIDA (Principal Researcher) ,

Tadahiro Komeda （Specially Appointed Research Fellow）

Donglin Li (JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship) ,

CV
2012.09~2016.06： Bachelor, Physics, Henan Normal Univeristy, China
2016.09~2018.06： Master, Physics, Henan Normal Univeristy, China
2018.09~2022.06： PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, China
2022.11~2024.10： NIMS Postdoc Researcher
2024.11~NOW: JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Foreign Researcher

Publication list
1. D. Li, M. Kumar, O. Stetsovych, B. Lowe, R. Sengupta, H. Hayashi, H. Maeda, P. Jelínek, S. Kawai
   "Spin State in Au-porphyrins Modulated by Charge Transfer on Au(111)"
   J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, 148, 13863−13870.
2. D. Li, N. Cao, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai
   "Br-Mediated Spin-State Control in Nickelocene and Cobaltocene"
   J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2026, 148, 3356–3364.
3. Y. Isshiki, D. Li, S. Vijayaraghavan, K. Sun, T. H. Ngo, L. Buimaga-Iarinca, Y. Matsushita, E. A. Neal, C. Morari, J. P. Hill, S. Kawai
   "On-surface synthesis of azobenzene-linked porphyrin derivative"
   J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2025, 16 , 11833–11841.
4. D. Li, T. Ohto, T. Nishiuchi, S. Takeuchi, Y. Nishide, H. Kimizuka, T. Kubo, S. Kawai
   "Systematic C–C Bond Cleavage in Oligomers via Diels-Alder Reaction on Au(111)"
   ACS Nano 2025, 19 , 35825–35832.
5. Z. Yuan, T. Kariyado, T. Murata, K. Sun, D. Lin, O. Custance, Y. Morita, S. Kawai
   "Spin States of Trioxotriangulene Controlled by Si-O Bond Formation and Dissociation on AuSi_x Surfaces"
   Nano Letters 2025, 25, 13040–13046.
6. D. Li, N. Cao, M. Metzelaars, O. Silveira, J. Jestilä, A. Fumega, T. Nishiuchi, J. Lado, A. S. Foster, T. Kubo, S. Kawai
   "Frustration-Induced Many-Body Degeneracy in Spin -1/2 Molecular Quantum Rings"
   J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 26208–26217.
7. D. Li, O. J. Silveira, T. Matsuda, H. Hayashi, H. Maeda, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai
   "On-surface Synthesis of Triaza[5]triangulene through Cyclodehydrogenation and its Magnetism"
   Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202411893.
8. X. Zhang, D. Li, C. C. H. Tan, F. Hanindita, Y. Hamamoto, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai, S. Ito
   "Synthesis of Azahexabenzocoronenium Salts through a Formal [3 + 3] Cycloaddition Strategy"
   Nature Synthesis 2024, 3, 1283–129.
9. D. Li, S. Seki, A. Ishikawa, K. Omoto, K. Yasuhara, G. Rapenne, S. Kawai
   "Procrystalline Self-Assembly of Desymmetrized Pentaphenylcyclopentadiene"
   J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2024, 15, 7628−7634.
10. K. Sun, D. Li, T. Kaihara, S. Minakata, Y. Takeda, S. Kawai
    "On-Surface Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Nanographene with an [18]Annulene Pore on Ag(111)"
    Commun. Chem. 2023, 6, 228.

Madhuparna Chakraborty (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Hayashi team) ,

Haruka Tsuji （JSPS Postdoc-PD）

Mariya Areeckal Varkey （Tsukuba University, D1, Graduate Research Assistant）

Mikiko TSUJIMURA

Chie NEGORO (Hayashi team)

Shizuka TAKAHASHI

 Alumini

Erlina Tik Man (NIMS Postdoc researcher) 2025.10−2026.2
Kewei SUN (NIMS Postdoc, JSPS Foreign researcher, NIMS-ICYS Resercher) 2018.7-2025.12 CV
2013.06: B.S. (Physics), College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, China
2018.06： PhD (Physics), Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, China (Prof. Lifeng Chi)
2018.07： NIMS Postdoc
2021.04: JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Foreign Researchers
2022.10： NIMS-ICYS Researcher
Publication list

1. K. Sun, L. Kurki, O. J. Silveira, K. Fukutani, T. Nishiuchi, S. Kera, T. Kubo, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai
   "TBA"
   Submitted.
2. K. Sun, X. Xiushang, A. Ishikawa, A. Narita, S. Kawai
   "On-Surface Synthesis of Nonbenzenoid Nanographenes through Skeletal Rearrangement Reactions on Au(111)"
   Science and Technology of Advanced Materials (STAM) 2026, 27, 2619342.
3. Y. Isshiki, D. Li, S. Vijayaraghavan, K. Sun, T. H. Ngo, L. Buimaga-Iarinca, Y. Matsushita, E. A. Neal, C. Morari, J. P. Hill, S. Kawai
   "On-surface synthesis of azobenzene-linked porphyrin derivative"
   J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2025, 16 , 11833–11841.
4. Z. Yuan, T. Kariyado, T. Murata, K. Sun, D. Lin, O. Custance, Y. Morita, S. Kawai
   "Spin States of Trioxotriangulene Controlled by Si-O Bond Formation and Dissociation on AuSi_x Surfaces"
   Nano Letters 2025, 25, 13040–13046.
5. K. Sun, N. Cao, O. J. Silveira, A. O. Fumega, F. Hanindita, S. Ito, J. L. Lado, P. Liljeroth, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai
   "On-Surface Synthesis of Heisenberg Spin-1/2 Antiferromagnetic Molecular Chains"
   Science Advances 2025, 11, eads1641.
6. K. Sun, A. Ishikawa, R. Itaya, Y. Toichi, T. Yamakado, A. Osuka, T. Tanaka, K. Sakamoto, S. Kawai
   "On-Surface Synthesis of Polyene Linked Porphyrin Cooligomer"
   ACS Nano 2024, 18 13551–13559.
7. K. Sun, L. Kurki, O. J. Silveira, T. Nishiuchi, T. Kubo, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai
   "On-Surface Synthesis of Silole and Disila-Cyclooctene Derivatives"
   Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202401027.
8. K. Sun, K. Sugawara, A. Lyalin, Y. Ishigaki, K. Uosaki, O. Custance, T. Taketsugu, T. Suzuki, S. Kawai
   "On-Surface Synthesis of Multiple Cu Atom-Bridged Organometallic Oligomers"
   ACS Nano 2023, 17, 24355–24362.
9. S. Kawai, O. J. Silveira, L. Kurki, Z. Yuan, T. Nishiuchi, T. Kodama, K. Sun, O. Custance, J. L. Lado, T. Kubo, A. S. Foster
   "Local Probe-Induced Structural Isomerization in a One-Dimensional Molecular Array"
   Nature Communications 2023, 14, 7741.
10. K. Sun, D. Li, T. Kaihara, S. Minakata, Y. Takeda, S. Kawai
    "On-Surface Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Nanographene with an [18]Annulene Pore on Ag(111)"
    Commun. Chem. 2023, 6, 228.
11. X. Xu, K. Sun, A. Ishikawa, A. Narita, S. Kawai
    "Magnetism in Nonplanar Zigzag Edge Termini of Graphene Nanoribbons"
    Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202302534.
12. Y. Ma, K. Sugawara, Y. Ishigaki, K. Sun, T. Suzuki, S. Kawai
    "Strain-sensitive On-Surface Ladderization via Non-Dehydrogenative Heterocyclization"
    Chemistry - A European Journal 2023, 29, e202203622.
13. K. Sun, O. J. Silveira, Y. Ma, Y. Hasegawa, M. Matsumoto, S. Kera, O. Krejčí, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai
    "On-Surface Synthesis of Disilabenzene-Bridged Covalent Organic Frameworks"
    Nature Chemistry 2023, 15, 136–142.
14. S. Kawai, K. Sugawara, Y. Ma, K. Sun, O. Custance, Y. Ishigaki, T. Suzuki
    "Multiple Molecular Interactions between Alkyl Groups and Dissociated Bromine Atoms on Ag(111)"
    Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2022, 24, 22191–22197.
15. K. Sun, O. J. Silveira, S. Saito, K. Sagisaka, S. Yamaguchi, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai
    "Manipulation of Spin Polarization in Boron-Substituted Graphene Nanoribbons"
    ACS Nano 2022, 16, 11244–11250.
16. S. Kawai, A. Ishikawa, S. Ishida, T. Yamakado, Y. Ma, K. Sun, Y. Tateyama, R. Pawlak, E. Meyer, S. Saito, A. Osuka
    "On-Surface Synthesis of Porphyrin-Complex Multi-Block Co-Oligomers by Defluorinative Coupling"
    Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202114697.
17. K. Sun, K. Sagisaka, L. Peng, H. Watanabe, F. Xu, R. Pawlak, E. Meyer, Y. Okuda, A. Orita, S. Kawai
    "Head-to-Tail Oligomerization by Silylene-tethered Sonogashira Coupling on Ag(111)"
    Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 19598-19603.
18. K. Sun, K. Sugawara, A. Lyalin, Y. Ishigaki, K. Uosaki, T. Taketsugu, T. Suzuki, S. Kawai
    "Heterocyclic Ring Opening of Nanographene on Au(111)"
    Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 9427-9432.
19. K. Sun, S. Kawai
    "Strength of Electronic Decoupling of Fullerene on an AuSi_X Layer Formed on Au(111)"
    Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2021, 23, 5455-5459.
20. K. Sun, T. Nishiuchi, K. Sahara, T. Kubo, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai
    "Low-Temperature Removal of Dissociated Bromine by Silicon Atoms for an On-Surface Ullmann Reaction"
    J. Phys. Chem. C 2020, 124, 19675–19680.
21. K. Nakamura, Q.-Q. Li, O. Krejci, A. S. Foster, K. Sun, S. Kawai, S. Ito
    "On-Surface Synthesis of a π-Extended Diaza[8]circulene"
    J. Am Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 11363-11369.
22. K. Sun, O. Krejči, A. S. Foster, Y. Okuda, A. Orita, S. Kawai
    "Synthesis of Regioisomeric Graphene Nanoribbon Junctions via Heteroprecursors"
    J. Phys. Chem. C 2019, 123, 17632-17638.
23. "On-Surface Translational Activity of Porphyrin Chromophore Molecules"
    J. P. Hill, D. T. Payne, K. Sun, Y. Matsushita, A. Nakata, P. Mishra, T. Uchihashi, W. Nakanishi, K. Ariga, T. Nakayama, S. Kawai
    Single Molecule Mechanics on a Surface: F. Moresco, C. Joachim (Eds.), 2023, 83-103.

Yuya HATTORI （JSPS-Postdoc researcher) 2024.4-2025.9
Yuji ISSHIKI (JSPS-Postdoc Researcher) 2024.4−2025.2

Publication list
1. Y. Isshiki D. Li, S. Vijayaraghavan, K. Sun, T. H. Ngo, L. Buimaga-Iarinca, Y. Matsushita, E. A. Neal, C. Morari, J. P. Hill, S. Kawai
   "On-surface synthesis of azobenzene-linked porphyrin derivative"
   J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2025, 16 , 11833–11841.

Zhangyu YUAN (Master's Course, University of Tsukuba) 2021.10−2023.9

Publication list
1. Z. Yuan,T. Kariyado, T. Murata, K. Sun, D. Lin, O. Custance, Y. Morita, S. Kawai
   "Spin States of Trioxotriangulene Controlled by Si-O Bond Formation and Dissociation on AuSi_x Surfaces"
   Nano Letters 2025, 25 13040–13046.
2. S. Kawai, O. J. Silveira, L. Kurki, Z. Yuan, T. Nishiuchi, T. Kodama, K. Sun, O. Custance, J. L. Lado, T. Kubo, A. S. Foster
   "Local Probe-Induced Structural Isomerization in a One-Dimensional Molecular Array"
   Nature Communications 2023, 14, 7741.

Yujing MA (Postdoc Researcher) 2020.11−2022.3 Publication list

1. Y. Ma, K. Sugawara, Y. Ishigaki, K. Sun, T. Suzuki, S. Kawai
   "Strain-sensitive On-Surface Ladderization via Non-Dehydrogenative Heterocyclization"
   Chemistry - A European Journal 2023, 29, e202203622.
2. K. Sun, O. J. Silveira, Y. Ma, Y. Hasegawa, M. Matsumoto, S. Kera, O. Krejčí, A. S. Foster, S. Kawai
   "On-Surface Synthesis of Disilabenzene-Bridged Covalent Organic Frameworks"
   Nature Chemistry 2023, 15, 136–142.
3. S. Kawai, K. Sugawara, Y. Ma, K. Sun, O. Custance, Y. Ishigaki, T. Suzuki
   "Multiple Molecular Interactions between Alkyl Groups and Dissociated Bromine Atoms on Ag(111)"
   Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2022, 24, 22191–22197.
4. S. Kawai, A. Ishikawa, S. Ishida, T. Yamakado, Y. Ma, K. Sun, Y. Tateyama, R. Pawlak, E. Meyer, S. Saito, A. Osuka
   "On-Surface Synthesis of Porphyrin-Complex Multi-Block Co-Oligomers by Defluorinative Coupling"
   Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202114697.

 NIMS Internship/Short Stay

India (Undergraduate, P.P.) 2026.1−2026.3
Finland, Aalto University (Postdoc Researcher: N.W.) 2025.6−2025.7, 2026.1-2026.4
India (Undergraduate, S.B.) 2023.5−2023.7
NARA Institute of Science and Technology (Assistannt Prof. K.M.) 2023.2, 2023.3
NARA Institute of Science and Technology (Mater course, S.S.) 2023.2, 2023.3, 2023.8
India (Senior scientist, S.V.): 2022.11−2023.1
Tokyo Institute of Technology (Doctor course: T.H.) 2021.7−2021.7
The University of Tokyo (Doctor course: C.Y.) 2020.10−2021.10
Osaka University (Doctor course: N.N.) 2019.12−2020.2
Meiji University (Master course: K.Y.) 2019.8−2019.9
Osaka University (Doctor course: ???) 2019.7−2019.7
Kanazawa University (Doctor course: T.K.) 2018.11−2018.12
Meiji Univeristy (Master course: K.I.) 2018.8−2018.9
Osaka University (Doctor course: K.S.) 2017.12−2018.2, 2018.4
Spain (PhD student、I.P.) 2016.9−2016.11