University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign physics postdoctoral researcher Matteo Mitrano has received the 2019 Young Investigator Award of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University for his pioneering new techniques to probe high-temperature superconductivity.
The early-career award was presented to Mitrano on September 26 at the 2019 SSRL/LCLS Users’ Meeting in Menlo Park, CA. The awardee is selected by the LCLS Users Executive Committee based on nominations from across the user community.
Mitrano, who has been a member of Illinois Physics Professor Peter Abbamonte’s research group since March 2016, has developed new and innovative techniques in ultrafast X-ray scattering.
Written by Siv Schwink for Illinois Physics
Illinois Physics Postdoctoral Researcher Matteo MitranoUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign physics postdoctoral researcher Matteo Mitrano has received the 2019 Young Investigator Award of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University for his pioneering new techniques to probe high-temperature superconductivity.
The early-career award was presented to Mitrano on September 26 at the 2019 SSRL/LCLS Users’ Meeting in Menlo Park, CA. The awardee is selected by the LCLS Users Executive Committee based on nominations from across the user community.
Mitrano, who has been a member of Illinois Physics Professor Peter Abbamonte’s research group since March 2016, has developed new and innovative techniques in ultrafast X-ray scattering, which he applied in experiments performed at the LCLS X-ray free-electron laser at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
By using advanced scattering and time-resolved spectroscopy techniques, Mitrano and colleagues have demonstrated how ultrafast laser pulses can control electronic properties, leading to novel functionalities far from equilibrium; and in this way can interrogate ground state properties in new ways. This work led to the observation of light-induced, high-temperature superconductivity in K3C60 following the excitation of intramolecular vibrations (Nature, 2016) and of low-energy diffusive dynamics in charge-ordered cuprates (Science Advances, 2019).
Matteo Mitrano (right) and the Abbamonte team at SLACMitrano received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics, cum laude, at the Sapienza University of Rome in 2008 and 2010, respectively. He obtained his doctoral degree. summa cum laude (“mit Auszeichnung”) from the University of Hamburg in 2015, having performed doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter.
Mitrano is a recipient of the Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2017-2019). In 2019, he became affiliated with Harvard University, where he will become assistant professor of physics in June 2020.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is funded by the US Department of Energy.
Madeline Stover is a physics doctoral student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying atmospheric dynamics applied to forest conservation. She interns as a science writer for Illinois Physics, where she also co-hosts the podcast Emergence along with fellow physics graduate student Mari Cieszynski. When Stover is not doing research or communications, she enjoys hosting her local radio show, singing with her band, and cooking with friends.
Daniel Inafuku graduated from Illinois Physics with a PhD and now works as a science writer. At Illinois, he conducted scientific research in mathematical biology and mathematical physics. In addition to his research interests, Daniel is a science video media creator.
Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Ph. D. is a science writer and an educator. She teaches college and high school physics and mathematics courses, and her writing has been published in popular science outlets such as WIRED, Scientific American, Physics World, and New Scientist. She earned a Ph. D. in Physics from UIUC in 2019 and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Jamie Hendrickson is a writer and content creator in higher education communications. They earned their M.A. in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2021. In addition to their communications work, they are a published area studies scholar and Russian-to-English translator.
Garrett R. Williams is an Illinois Physics Ph.D. Candidate and science writer. He has been recognized as the winner of the 2020 APS History of Physics Essay Competition and as a finalist in the 2021 AAAS Science and Human Rights Essay Competition. He was also an invited author in the 2021 #BlackinPhysics Week series published by Physics Today and Physics World.
Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Ph. D. is a science writer and an educator. She teaches college and high school physics and mathematics courses, and her writing has been published in popular science outlets such as WIRED, Scientific American, Physics World, and New Scientist. She earned a Ph. D. in Physics from UIUC in 2019 and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.