Condensed Matter Physics

What are we doing in Condensed Matter Physics at Illinois?

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.

Faculty

Peter Abbamonte

Fox Family Professor in Engineering

Condensed Matter Physics

104 Materials Research Lab

(217) 244-4861

Gordon A. Baym

George and Ann Fisher Professor in Engineering Emeritus, Center for Advanced Study Professor of Physics Emeritus, Research Professor

Nuclear Physics

337C Loomis Laboratory

(217) 333-4363

Alexey Bezryadin

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

1016 Superconductivity Center

(217) 333-9580

Barry Bradlyn

Assistant Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2129 Engineering Sciences Building

David M. Ceperley

Founder Professor of Physics

Condensed Matter Physics

2107 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 244-0646

Tai-Chang Chiang

Research Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

170 Materials Research Lab

(217) 333-2593

Bryan K. Clark

Associate Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2111 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 244-2423

S. Lance Cooper

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

218 Materials Research Lab

(217) 333-2589

Karin A. Dahmen

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2127 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 244-8873

James N. Eckstein

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

1019 Superconductivity Center

(217) 244-7709

Thomas Faulkner

Associate Professor

High Energy Physics

433 Loomis Laboratory

(217) 244-8598

Eduardo H. Fradkin

Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Physics

Condensed Matter Physics

2119 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-4409

Russ Giannetta

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

129 Loomis Laboratory

(217) 333-5882

Nigel D. Goldenfeld

Swanlund Professor of Physics

Condensed Matter Physics

3113 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-8027

Martin Gruebele

Professor of Chemistry and Physics

Biological Physics

A220 Chemical and Life Sci Lab

(217) 333-6136

Sascha Hilgenfeldt

Professor of Mechanical Science and Eng.

332D Mechanical Engineering Bldg

(217) 244-7252

Taylor L. Hughes

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2115 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-1195

Angela Kou

Assistant Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

216 Materials Research Lab

Virginia Lorenz

Associate Professor

AMO / Quantum Physics

337A Loomis Laboratory

(217) 300-3306

Gregory MacDougall

Research Assistant Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

408 Materials Research Lab

(217) 300-0147

Vidya Madhavan

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

1018 Superconductivity Center

(217) 300-1476

Fahad Mahmood

Assistant Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

106 Materials Research Lab

(217) 300-9217

Nancy Makri

Professor of Chemistry

Condensed Matter Physics

A442 Chemical and Life Sci Lab

(217) 333-6589

Nadya Mason

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2010 Superconductivity Center

(217) 244-9114

Munir H. Nayfeh

Professor

Cross-cutting Physics

407 Loomis Laboratory

(217) 333-3774

Wolfgang Pfaff

Assistant Professor

AMO / Quantum Physics

295A Engineering Sciences Building

Philip W. Phillips

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2121 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 244-2003

Michael Stone

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2117 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-2891

Dale J. Van Harlingen

Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Physics

Condensed Matter Physics

1020 Superconductivity Center

(217) 300-9259

Smitha Vishveshwara

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2109 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-4370

Lucas K. Wagner

Assistant Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2131 Engineering Sciences Building

John H. Weaver

Professor of Materials Science and Eng.

Condensed Matter Physics

262 Materials Research Lab

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In the Media
Research
Condensed Matter Physics

In APS's Physics : Nadya Mason on "When a Superconductor Doesn't Act Like One"

There are times when superconductors—materials through which electric current can travel without resistance and thus without losing energy—don’t live up to their reputation. Nadya Mason of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been making strides toward understanding when and how electron energy loss, or dissipation, arises in otherwise superconducting systems. She had planned to share this work in the Edward A. Bouchet Award Talk at the March Meeting of the American Physical Society earlier this month. (The meeting was canceled due to concerns about the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, but Physics is reporting on some of the results that would have been presented.)

Modern technology is largely based on normal conductors, but electrical currents in these materials always dissipate some energy as heat. “Superconductors give us a great opportunity to save energy by reducing dissipation,” Mason says. “But in order to use superconductors, we have to understand how dissipation affects them in particular, and how to minimize [dissipation] and control it.”

Accolades
Condensed Matter Physics

Bradlyn one of two Illinois faculty members named Sloan Research Fellows

Two University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign scientists are among 126 recipients of the 2020 Sloan Research Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This honor is one of the most competitive and prestigious awards available to early career researchers.

This year’s Illinois recipients are physics professor Barry Bradlyn and electrical and computer engineering professor Zhizhen Zhao.

Research
Condensed Matter Physics

Strange metal charge is localized in both space and time

The Abbamonte lab has discovered that, unlike normal metals where charge flows like waves, charge in so-called “strange metals” cannot freely propagate and is instead highly localized in space and time. These findings were published in a paper titled, “Crossover of Charge Fluctuations across the Strange Metal Phase Diagram,” published December 2019 in Physical Review X.

Research
Condensed Matter Physics

Exotic new topological state discovered in Dirac semimetals

An international team of scientists has discovered an exotic new form of topological state in a large class of 3D semi-metallic crystals called Dirac semimetals. The researchers developed extensive mathematical machinery to bridge the gap between theoretical models with forms of “higher-order” topology (topology that manifests only at the boundary of a boundary) and the physical behavior of electrons in real materials.

What is Condensed Matter Physics?

What are we doing in Condensed Matter Physics at Illinois?

Faculty

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