2026 Ralph Spolenak: Materials Science Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Materials Science	59	7297	7059	114	109	275	14581

Overview

Ralph Spolenak is affiliated with ETH Zurich in Switzerland and has contributed extensively to research in engineering and materials science. Their work spans over 135 publications in engineering and 54 in materials science, reflecting a broad engagement with these domains.

The scientist has focused on multiple subfields within engineering and materials science, including:

Mechanical Engineering
Materials Chemistry
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Automotive Engineering

Spolenak's research topics show a strong emphasis on manufacturing and materials processes as well as fluid dynamics, with main topics including:

Electrohydrodynamics and Fluid Dynamics
Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies
Additive Manufacturing Materials and Processes
Aluminum Alloys Composites Properties
Intermetallics and Advanced Alloy Properties
Laser-Ablation Synthesis of Nanoparticles
Electrodeposition and Electroless Coatings

They have published frequently in selected venues, contributing to the following journals and platforms:

Materials & Design
arXiv (Cornell University)
SSRN Electronic Journal
Journal of Applied Physics
Applied Physics Letters

Recent notable papers by Ralph Spolenak include:

Metals by Micro-Scale Additive Manufacturing: Comparison of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties (2020), Advanced Functional Materials
Fused filament fabrication of stainless steel structures - from binder development to sintered properties (2021), Additive manufacturing
Achieving micron-scale plasticity and theoretical strength in Silicon (2020), Nature Communications
Micro-compression studies of face-centered cubic and body-centered cubic high-entropy alloys: Size-dependent strength, strain rate sensitivity, and activation volumes (2020), Materials Science and Engineering A
A 4D printed active compliant hinge for potential space applications using shape memory alloys and polymers (2021), Smart Materials and Structures

Collaboration features prominently in their academic work. Frequent co-authors include:

Henning Galinski
Alain Reiser
Fabian Schwarz
Maxence Menétrey
Mirco Nydegger

Best Publications

From micro to nano contacts in biological attachment devices.

Eduard Arzt;Eduard Arzt;Stanislav Gorb;Ralph Spolenak

1353
Citations
Evidence for capillarity contributions to gecko adhesion from single spatula nanomechanical measurements.

Gerrit Huber;Hubert Mantz;Ralph Spolenak;Klaus Mecke

808
Citations
Ultrastrong ductile and stable high-entropy alloys at small scales.

Yu Zou;Huan Ma;Ralph Spolenak

637
Citations
Size-dependent plasticity in an Nb25Mo25Ta25W25 refractory high-entropy alloy

Yu Zou;Soumyadipta Maiti;Walter Steurer;Ralph Spolenak

542
Citations
Analysis of enhanced light emission from highly strained germanium microbridges

M. J. Süess;M. J. Süess;R. Geiger;R. A. Minamisawa;G. Schiefler;G. Schiefler

480
Citations
Additive Manufacturing of Metal Structures at the Micrometer Scale

Luca Hirt;Alain Reiser;Ralph Spolenak;Tomaso Zambelli

402
Citations
Effects of contact shape on the scaling of biological attachments

Ralph Spolenak;Stanislav Gorb;Huajian Gao;Eduard Arzt;Eduard Arzt

372
Citations
Resolving the nanoscale adhesion of individual gecko spatulae by atomic force microscopy

Gerrit Huber;Stanislav N Gorb;Ralph Spolenak;Eduard Arzt;Eduard Arzt

340
Citations
Adhesion design maps for bio-inspired attachment systems

Ralph Spolenak;Stanislav Gorb;Eduard Arzt;Eduard Arzt

330
Citations
Scanning X-ray microdiffraction with submicrometer white beam for strain/stress and orientation mapping in thin films.

N. Tamura;A. A. MacDowell;R. Spolenak;B. C. Valek

323
Citations
Influence of surface roughness on gecko adhesion.

Gerrit Huber;Stanislav N Gorb;Naoe Hosoda;Ralph Spolenak

261
Citations
ELECTRICAL TRANSPORT IN PURE AND BORON-DOPED CARBON NANOTUBES

Bingqing Wei;Ralph Spolenak;Philipp Kohler-Redlich;Manfred Rühle

234
Citations
Stretchable heterogeneous composites with extreme mechanical gradients.

Rafael Libanori;Randall M. Erb;Alain Reiser;Hortense Le Ferrand

228
Citations
Submicron X-ray diffraction and its applications to problems in materials and environmental science.

N. Tamura;R. S. Celestre;A. A. MacDowell;H. A. Padmore

223
Citations
Nanocrystalline High-Entropy Alloys: A New Paradigm in High-Temperature Strength and Stability

Yu Zou;Jeffrey M. Wheeler;Huan Ma;Philipp Okle

210
Citations
Size effects on yield strength and strain hardening for ultra-thin Cu films with and without passivation: A study by synchrotron and bulge test techniques

Patric A. Gruber;Jochen Böhm;Felix Onuseit;Alexander Wanner

205
Citations
Multi-metal electrohydrodynamic redox 3D printing at the submicron scale

Alain Reiser;Marcus Lindén;Patrik Rohner;Adrien Marchand

203
Citations
Template-Free 3D Microprinting of Metals Using a Force-Controlled Nanopipette for Layer-by-Layer Electrodeposition.

Luca Hirt;Stephan Ihle;Zhijian Pan;Livie Dorwling-Carter

189
Citations
Top-down fabricated silicon nanowires under tensile elastic strain up to 4.5%

Renato A. Minamisawa;Martin J. Süess;Ralph Spolenak;Jérome Faist

176
Citations
Magnetron sputter deposited tantalum and tantalum nitride thin films: an analysis of phase, hardness and composition

Daniel Bernoulli;Ulrich Müller;M. Schwarzenberger;R. Hauert

155
Citations
Ordered arrays of faceted gold nanoparticles obtained by dewetting and nanosphere lithography.

Claudia Manuela Müller;Flavio Carlo Filippo Mornaghini;Ralph Spolenak

143
Citations