Condensed Matter Physics Research
Institute for Condensed Matter Theory
What is condensed matter physics? Condensed matter physics attempts to understand and manipulate the properties of matter in its solid and liquid forms from fundamental physical principles of quantum and statistical mechanics.
The University of Illinois maintains a distinguished tradition of focusing on the collective properties of matter and the emergence of novel and unusual states of matter, such as superconductivity and superfluidity.
Research in these areas has been recognized by numerous major awards, including Nobel Prizes to John Bardeen and Anthony Leggett. However, the university is also distinguished by its strong
contributions to the development of technology emanating from condensed matter physics, especially in the area of semiconductor physics.
Today, the condensed matter group is the largest focus area in the department, with vibrant programs in both theory and experimental work. Every area of modern-day condensed matter physics is represented at Illinois, together with numerous cross-disciplinary programs in atomic, molecular and optical physics, materials science, and even biology.
Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
Research Faculty
Peter Abbamonte — electron self-organization in condensed matter, stripe phases, topological order; edge and interface effects in oxide devices; quantum phase transitions; collective excitations in interacting electron systems.
Alexey Bezryadin — nanotechnology, electronic transport properties of nanostructures at ultralow temperatures, macroscopic quantum phenomena in low-dimensional superconductors.
Raffi Budakian — magnetic resonance force microscopy; ultra-sensitive force/displacement detection; design and fabrication of micro- and nanomechanical devices; development of ultrasensitive spin detection techniques for single spin imaging and quantum readout.
Tai-Chang Chiang — studies of bulk, surface, and interface states of metals and semiconductors using photoemission techniques. Use of synchrotron-radiation photoemission spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and molecular beam epitaxy techniques to examine the growth processes, and the resulting physical properties, of various surface and interface systems that are of fundamental scientific interest and technological relevance.
S. Lance Cooper — optical studies, involving reflectance, light-scattering, and time-resolved spectroscopies, of the complex phase behavior of strongly correlated systems, including exotic metal-insulator transitions, "colossal magnetoresistance" behavior, and charge-ordering phenomena.
James N. Eckstein — atomic layer-by-layer molecular beam epitaxy applied to the growth of materials, and the fabrication of novel devices and engineered structures, with ferroelectric, superconducting, and/or magnetoresistive properties.
C. Peter Flynn — molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth of metallic films and superlattices; studies of the structure and properties of magnetic/non-magnetic superlattices, particularly the structure and magnetic behavior of rare earth metals grown as single-crystal thin films by MBE; studies of metallic films and superlattices using low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM).
Russell W. Giannetta — use of novel and highly sensitive low temperature experimental techniques for studying correlation effects in semiconductor nanostructures and superconductors; development of techniques for measuring time-dependent currents in semiconducting heterostructures.
Steve Granick — Single-molecule methods, polymers, nanoparticles, complex fluids, imaging, and biomaterials.
Laura H. Greene — highly correlated electron systems and novel materials, in particular high-temperature superconductors, and the interfaces between metallic superconductors and compound-semiconductor heterostructures; use of planar tunneling spectroscopy, electronic transport, Raman scattering, electron spin resonance and muon spin relaxation to investigate mechanisms of superconductivity and charge and transport across superconducting interfaces.
Nadya Mason — nanometer-scale mesoscopic physics, quantum properties of carbon nanotubes, low-dimensional superconductivity, quantum phase transitions; effect of reduced dimensionality and correlations on electron coherence.
Munir H. Nayfeh — optical studies of porous silicon; atomic-resolution nanofabrication using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in combination with the energy selectivity of a laser; fabrication and analysis of nanometer-scale structures by employing STM to study hysteresis effects in the formation of matter.
Dale J. Van Harlingen — superconductor device physics; non-equilibrium superconductivity; properties of various superconductor materials, including conventional superconductors and unconventional superconductors such as high-Tc cuprates and heavy fermion systems; microfabrication and nanofabrication techniques; mesoscopic physics; scanning tunneling microscopy and scanning SQUID microscopy' phase coherence and vortex dynamics in superconductor systems.
Richard L. Weaver — Ultrasonics, stochastic waves, structural acoustics, disordered and complex structures, quantitative nondestructive evaluation
Michael B. Weissman — noise studies of various phenomena in condensed matter systems, including the pinning and unpinning of magnetic vortices in superconductors, conductivity fluctuations associated with domain dynamics in magnets, vortex dynamics in superconductors, and "colossal magnetoresistance," dielectric fluctuations in relaxor ferroelectrics, and "self-organization" of magnetic domains.
Theoretical Condensed matter physics
Research Faculty
Gordon Baym — matter under extreme conditions, ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions, Bose–Einstein condensation in trapped atomic systems, superfluids
David M. Ceperley — quantum simulations of condensed matter systems; electronic-structure-based simulations, silicon crystals, metal surfaces, metalization of hydrogen at high pressure, rare gas layers, simulations of solids and liquids as a function of temperature, atoms in strong magnetic fields, and the fractional quantum Hall effect
Karin A. Dahmen — nonequilibrium dynamical systems, including pattern formation in homogeneous systems and inhomogeneous systems with quenched disorder
Eduardo Fradkin — disordered and strongly correlated systems, quantum Hall effects, quantum field theory in condensed matter, mechanisms of high-temperature superconductivity
Paul M. Goldbart — statistical mechanics of disordered materials, soft matter, random systems (polymer networks and glasses), mesoscopic physics, superconductivity and superfluidity
Nigel D. Goldenfeld — dynamics of pattern formation, high-temperature superconductivity, phase transitions, turbulence
Anthony J. Leggett — low-temperature phenomena, quantum fluids, statistical physics, macroscopic quantum systems, quantum theory of measurement, foundations of quantum mechanics, Bose–Einstein condensation
Yoshitsugu Oono — dynamics of phase transitions, nonequilibrium thermodynamics, statistical physics in the broadest sense (nonequilibrium, including biological, hydrodynamical, and dynamical systems); applied mathemathics
Philip W. Phillips — quantum critical phenomena, quantum magnetism, strongly correlated electron systems, "Mottness"
Michael Stone — statistical physics; mathematical physics; quantum field theory and its applications in condensed matter systems
Smitha Vishveshwara — strongly correlated systems, disordered systems, localization physics, phase transitions, critical dynamics, superconductivity, Luttinger liquids, quantum Hall systems, carbon nanotubes, optical lattices