School of Humanities and Sciences
Showing 1-42 of 42 Results
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Steven M. Block
The Stanford W. Ascherman, M.D., Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and of Biology, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSingle molecule biophysics using optical trapping and fluorescence
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Charlotte Bøttcher
Acting Assistant Professor, Applied Physics
BioCharlotte is joining the Stanford faculty in 2025 as an assistant professor of Applied Physics. Charlotte received her BSc degree in physics in 2016 from the Niels Bohr institute in Copenhagen where she focused on studying quantum phases transitions in two-dimensional Josephson junction arrays. She then moved to the US and finished her PhD in physics at Harvard University in 2022. Her general passion is to work at the intersection between condensed matter physics and quantum information, and during her PhD Charlotte also spent time at IBM Quantum. After her PhD, she joined Qulab at Yale University as a postdoc where she worked on hybrid material systems for quantum information.
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Mark Brongersma
Stephen Harris Professor, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics
BioMark Brongersma is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He received his PhD in Materials Science from the FOM Institute in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 1998. From 1998-2001 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the California Institute of Technology. During this time, he coined the term “Plasmonics” for a new device technology that exploits the unique optical properties of nanoscale metallic structures to route and manipulate light at the nanoscale. His current research is directed towards the development and physical analysis of nanostructured materials that find application in nanoscale electronic and photonic devices. Brongersma received a National Science Foundation Career Award, the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching, the International Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in the Physical Sciences (Physics) for his work on plasmonics, and is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, the SPIE, and the American Physical Society.
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Philip Bucksbaum
Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor of Natural Science and Professor of Photon Science, of Applied Physics and of Physics
BioPhil Bucksbaum holds the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Chair in Natural Science at Stanford University, with appointments in Physics, Applied Physics, and in Photon Science at SLAC. He conducts his research in the Stanford PULSE Institute (https://web.stanford.edu/~phbuck). He and his wife Roberta Morris live in Menlo Park, California. Their grown daughter lives in Toronto.
Bucksbaum was born and raised in Iowa, and graduated from Harvard in 1975. He attended U.C. Berkeley on a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship and received his Ph.D. in 1980 for atomic parity violation experiments under Professor Eugene Commins, with whom he also has co-authored a textbook, “Weak Interactions of Leptons and Quarks.” In 1981 he joined Bell Laboratories, where he pursued new applications of ultrafast coherent radiation from terahertz to vacuum ultraviolet, including time-resolved VUV ARPES, and strong-field laser-atom physics.
He joined the University of Michigan in 1990 and stayed for sixteen years, becoming Otto Laporte Collegiate Professor and then Peter Franken University Professor. He was founding Director of FOCUS, a National Science Foundation Physics Frontier Center, where he pioneered research using ultrafast lasers to control quantum systems. He also launched the first experiments in ultrafast x-ray science at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab. In 2006 Bucksbaum moved to Stanford and SLAC, and organized the PULSE Institute to develop research utilizing the world’s first hard x-ray free-electron laser, LCLS. In addition to directing PULSE, he has previously served as Department Chair of Photon Science and Division Director for Chemical Science at SLAC. His current research is in laser interrogation of atoms and molecules to explore and image structure and dynamics on the femtosecond scale. He currently has more than 250 publications.
Bucksbaum is a Fellow of the APS and the Optical Society, and has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has held Guggenheim and Miller Fellowships, and received the Norman F. Ramsey Prize of the American Physical Society for his work in ultrafast and strong-field atomic and molecular physics. He served as the Optical Society President in 2014, and also served as the President of the American Physical Society in 2020. He has led or participated in many professional service activities, including NAS studies, national and international boards, initiatives, lectureships and editorships. -
Robert Byer
William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor, Emeritus
BioRobert L. Byer has served as President of The American Physical Society, of the Optical Society of America and of the IEEE LEOS. He has served as Vice Provost and Dean of Research at Stanford. He has been Chair of the Department of Applied Physics, Director of the Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory and Director of the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory. He is a founding member of the California Council on Science and Technology and served as Chair from 1995-1999. He was a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board from 2002-2006 and has been a member of the National Ignition Facility since 2000.
Robert L. Byer has conducted research and taught classes in lasers and nonlinear optics at Stanford University since 1969. He has made extraordinary contributions to laser science and technology including the demonstration of the first tunable visible parametric oscillator, the development of the Q-switched unstable resonator Nd:YAG laser, remote sensing using tunable infrared sources and precision spectroscopy using Coherent Anti Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS). Current research includes precision laser measurements in support of the detection of gravitational waves and laser “Accelerator on a chip”. -
Sebastian Doniach
Professor of Applied Physics and of Physics, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsStudy of changes in conformation of proteins and RNA using x-ray scattering
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Shanhui Fan
Joseph and Hon Mai Goodman Professor of the School of Engineering and Professor, by courtesy, of Applied Physics
BioFan's research interests are in fundamental studies of nanophotonic structures, especially photonic crystals and meta-materials, and applications of these structures in energy and information technology applications
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Daniel Fisher
David Starr Jordan Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsEvolutionary & ecological dynamics & diversity, microbial, expt'l, & cancer
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Ian Fisher
Professor of Applied Physics and, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsOur research focuses on the study of quantum materials with unconventional magnetic & electronic ground states & phase transitions. Emphasis on design and discovery of new materials. Recent focus on use of strain as a probe of, and tuning parameter for, a variety of electronic states. Interests include unconventional superconductivity, quantum phase transitions, nematicity, multipolar order, instabilities of low-dimensional materials and quantum magnetism.
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John Fox
Adjunct Professor
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsStanford University Research areas center on optimal control methods to improve energy
efficiency and resource allocation in plug-in hybrid vehicles. Stanford graduate courses
taught in laboratory techniques and electronic instrumentation. Undergraduate course
"Energy Choices for the 21st Century" -
Surya Ganguli
Associate Professor of Applied Physics, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for HAI and Associate Professor, by courtesy, of Neurobiology and of Electrical Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsTheoretical / computational neuroscience
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David Goldhaber-Gordon
Professor of Physics and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHow do electrons organize themselves on the nanoscale?
We know that electrons are charged particles, and hence repel each other; yet in common metals like copper billions of electrons have plenty of room to maneuver and seem to move independently, taking no notice of each other. Professor Goldhaber-Gordon studies how electrons behave when they are instead confined to tiny structures, such as wires only tens of atoms wide. When constrained this way, electrons cannot easily avoid each other, and interactions strongly affect their organization and flow. The Goldhaber-Gordon group uses advanced fabrication techniques to confine electrons to semiconductor nanostructures, to extend our understanding of quantum mechanics to interacting particles, and to provide the basic science that will shape possible designs for future transistors and energy conversion technologies. The Goldhaber-Gordon group makes measurements using cryogenics, precision electrical measurements, and novel scanning probe techniques that allow direct spatial mapping of electron organization and flow. For some of their measurements of exotic quantum states, they cool electrons to a fiftieth of a degree above absolute zero, the world record for electrons in semiconductor nanostructures. -
Benjamin Good
Assistant Professor of Applied Physics
BioBenjamin Good is a theoretical biophysicist with a background in experimental evolution and population genetics. He is interested in the short-term evolutionary dynamics that emerge in rapidly evolving microbial populations like the gut microbiome. Technological advances are revolutionizing our ability to peer into these evolving ecosystems, providing us with an increasingly detailed catalog of their component species, genes, and pathways. Yet a vast gap still remains in understanding the population-level processes that control their emergent structure and function. Our group uses tools from statistical physics, population genetics, and computational biology to understand how microscopic growth processes and genome dynamics at the single cell level give rise to the collective behaviors that can be observed at the population level. Projects range from basic theoretical investigations of non-equilibrium processes in microbial evolution and ecology, to the development of new computational tools for measuring these processes in situ in both natural and experimental microbial communities. Through these specific examples, we seek to uncover unifying theoretical principles that could help us understand, forecast, and eventually control the ecological and evolutionary dynamics that take place in these diverse scenarios.
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Tony Heinz
Professor of Applied Physics, of Photon Science, and, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsElectronic properties and dynamics of nanoscale materials, ultrafast lasers and spectroscopy.
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Lambertus Hesselink
Professor of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy of Applied Physics
BioHesselink's research encompasses nano-photonics, ultra high density optical data storage, nonlinear optics, optical super-resolution, materials science, three-dimensional image processing and graphics, and Internet technologies.
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Aharon Kapitulnik
Theodore and Sydney Rosenberg Professor of Applied Physics and Professor of Physics
BioAharon Kapitulnik is the Theodore and Sydney Rosenberg Professor in Applied Physics at the Departments of Applied Physics and Physics at Stanford University. His research focuses on experimental condensed matter physics, while opportunistically, also apply his methods to tabletop experimental studies of fundamental phenomena in physics. His recent studies cover a broad spectrum of phenomena associated with the behavior of correlated and disordered electron systems, particularly in reduced dimensions, and the development of effective instrumentation to detect subtle signatures of physical phenomena.
Among other recognitions, his activities earned him the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (1986-90), a Presidential Young Investigator Award (1987-92), a Sackler Scholar at Tel-Aviv University (2006), the Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Prize for Superconductivity Experiment (2009), a RTRA (Le Triangle de la Physique) Senior Chair (2010), and the Oliver Buckley Condensed Matter Prize of the American Physical Society (2015). Aharon Kapitulnik is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Kapitulnik holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Tel-Aviv University (1984). -
Matthias Kling
Professor of Photon Science and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsKling's research focuses on ultrafast electronics and nanophotonics employing ultrashort flashes of light from table-top and free-electron laser sources.
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Brian Lantz
Professor (Research) of Applied Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMeasure gravitational waves
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Benjamin Lev
Professor of Applied Physics and of Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsLevLab is a joint AMO & CM experimental group that explores the question: Can new classes of states and phases of quantum matter be created far away from equilibrium, and if so, what do we learn? We use our new technique, confocal cavity QED, to both engineer out-of-equilibrium quantum gases and 2D materials and to image and control their new properties.
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Agostino Marinelli
Assistant Professor of Photon Science, of Particle Physics and Astrophysics and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsX-ray free-electron lasers and applications.
Advanced particle accelerators. -
W. E. Moerner
Harry S. Mosher Professor and Professor, by courtesy, of Applied Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsLaser spectroscopy and microscopy of single molecules to probe biological systems, one biomolecule at a time. Primary thrusts: fluorescence microscopy far beyond the optical diffraction limit (PALM/STORM/STED), methods for 3D optical microscopy in cells, and trapping of single biomolecules in solution for extended study. We explore protein localization patterns in bacteria, structures of amyloid aggregates in cells, signaling proteins in the primary cilium, and dynamics of DNA and RNA.
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Vahe Petrosian
Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics
On Leave from 10/01/2024 To 12/31/2024BioHow do things evolve in the universe? How are particles accelerated in the universe?
Professor Petrosian’s research covers many topics in the broad area of theoretical astrophysics and cosmology, with a strong focus on high-energy astrophysical processes.
Cosmological studies deal with global properties of the universe, where the main focus is the understanding of the evolution of the universe at high redshifts, through studies of the evolutions of population of sources such as galaxies and quasars or active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, using new statistical techniques developed in collaboration with Prof. B. Efron of the Department of Statistics. Another area of research is the use of gravitational lensing in measuring mass in the universe.
High-energy astrophysics research involves interpretation of non-thermal astronomical sources where particles are accelerated to very high energies and emit various kinds of radiation. These processes occur on many scales and in all sorts of objects: in the magnetosphere of planets, in the interplanetary space, during solar and stellar flares, in the accretion disks and jets around stellar-size and super-massive black holes, at centers of galaxies, in gamma-ray bursts, in supernovae, and in the intra-cluster medium of clusters of galaxies. Plasma physics processes common in all these sources for acceleration of particles and their radiative signature is the main focus of the research here. -
Eric Pop
Pease-Ye Professor, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering and of Applied Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Pop Lab explores problems at the intersection of nanoelectronics and nanoscale energy conversion. These include fundamental limits of current and heat flow, energy-efficient transistors and memory, and energy harvesting via thermoelectrics. The Pop Lab also works with novel nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes, graphene, BN, MoS2, and their device applications, through an approach that is experimental, computational and highly collaborative.
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Stephen Quake
Lee Otterson Professor in the School of Engineering and Professor of Bioengineering, of Applied Physics and, by courtesy, of Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsSingle molecule biophysics, precision force measurement, micro and nano fabrication with soft materials, integrated microfluidics and large scale biological automation.
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Mark J. Schnitzer
Professor of Biology, of Applied Physics and of Neurosurgery (Adult Neurosurgery)
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe goal of our research is to advance experimental paradigms for understanding normal cognitive and disease processes at the level of neural circuits, with emphasis on learning and memory processes. To advance these paradigms, we invent optical brain imaging techniques, several of which have been widely adopted. Our neuroscience studies combine these imaging innovations with behavioral, electrophysiological, optogenetic and computational methods, enabling a holistic approach to brain science.
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Zhi-Xun Shen
Paul Pigott Professor of Physical Sciences, Professor of Applied Physics, of Physics and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsDr. Shen's main research interest lies in the area of condensed matter and materials physics, as well as the applications of materials and devices. He develops photon based innovative instrumentation and advanced experimental techniques, ranging from angle-resolved photoemission to microwave imaging, soft x-ray scattering and time domain spectroscopy and scattering. He has created a body of literature that advanced our understanding of quantum materials, including superconductors, semiconductors, novel magnets, topological insulators, novel carbon and electron emitters. He is best known for his discoveries of the momentum structure of anisotropic d-wave pairing gap and anomalous normal state pseudogap in high temperature superconductors. He has further leveraged the advanced characterization tool to make better materials through thin film and interface engineering.
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Jon Simon
Professor of Physics and Applied Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsJon's group focuses on exploring synthetic quantum matter using the unique tools available through quantum and classical optics. We typically think of photons as non-interacting, wave-like particles. By harnessing recent innovations in Rydberg-cavity- and circuit- quantum electrodynamics, the Simonlab is able to make photons interact strongly with one another, mimicking collisions between charged electrons. By confining these photons in ultra-low-loss metamaterial structures, the teams "teach" the photons to behave as though they have mass, are in traps, and are experiencing magnetic fields, all by using the structures to tailor the optical dispersion. In total, this provides a unique platform to explore everything from Weyl-semi-metals, to fractional quantum hall puddles, to Mott insulators and quantum dots, all made of light.
The new tools developed in this endeavor, from twisted fabry-perot resonators, to Rydberg atom ensembles, Floquet-modulated atoms, and coupled cavity optical mode converters, have broad applications in information processing and communication. Indeed, we are now commissioning a new experiment aimed at interconverting optical and mm-wave photons using Rydberg atoms inside of crossed optical and superconducting millimeter resonators as the transducer. -
Andrew Spakowitz
Tang Family Foundation Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Professor of Chemical Engineering, of Materials Science and Engineering and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsTheory and computation of biological processes and complex materials
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Yuri Suzuki
Professor of Applied Physics and, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsHer interests are focused on novel ground states and functional properties in condensed matter systems synthesized via atomically precise thin film deposition techniques with a recent emphasis has been on highly correlated electronic systems:
• Emergent interfacial electronic & magnetic phenomena through complex oxide heteroepitaxy
• Low dimensional electron gas systems
• Spin current generation, propagation and control in complex oxide-based ferromagnets
• Multifunctional behavior in complex oxide thin films and heterostructures -
Jelena Vuckovic
Jensen Huang Professor of Global Leadership, Professor of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsJelena Vuckovic’s research interests are broadly in the areas of nanophotonics, quantum and nonlinear optics. Her lab develops semiconductor-based photonic chip-scale systems with goals to probe new regimes of light-matter interaction, as well as to enable platforms for future classical and quantum information processing technologies. She also works on transforming conventional photonics with the concept of inverse design, where optimal photonic devices are designed from scratch using computer algorithms with little to no human input. Her current projects include quantum and nonlinear optics, cavity QED, and quantum information processing with color centers in diamond and in silicon carbide, heterogeneously integrated chip-scale photonic systems, and on-chip laser driven particle accelerators.
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Herman Winick
Professor of Applied Physics (Research), Emeritus
BioBorn and educated in New York City, he received his AB (1953) and his PhD (1957) from Columbia University. Following a postdoc position at the University of Rochester (1957-59) he continued work in high energy physics and accelerator development at the Cambridge Electron Accelerator at Harvard University (1959-73), serving as Assistant Director. He came to Stanford in 1973 to lead the technical design of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Project (SSRP), now SSRL, and served as Deputy Director of the laboratory until his semi-retirement in 1998 (www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu). He has taught physics at Columbia, Rochester, Harvard, MIT, Northwestern, University of Massachusetts, and Stanford. His 1970’s and 1980’s research developing periodic magnet systems (wigglers and undulators), had a major impact on synchrotron radiation sources and research facilities at Stanford and around the world. Beginning in 1992 he made major contributions to initiating and developing the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s first X-ray Free Electron Laser. Starting operation in 2009, the LCLS has shifted the major SLAC focus from high energy physics to x-ray sources and research. In 1997 he suggested SESAME, a synchrotron light source involving 9 countries in the Middle East. He has played a major role in the development of this project, on track to start research in 2016 (www.sesame.org.jo). He is now promoting a similar project in Africa. Throughout his adult life he has been an activist in helping dissidents and protecting academic freedom and human rights.
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Alfred Zong
Assistant Professor of Physics and Applied Physics
BioI am an assistant professor in the Departments of Physics and of Applied Physics, and my group focuses on the study of light-induced non-equilibrium phenomena in quantum materials. To capture the ultrafast dynamics on the nanoscale, we develop a variety of techniques such as ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy, attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, and coherent diffraction imaging. These time-resolved probes are integrated with a complex sample environment such as in-situ strain and electrostatic gating in order to design, discover, and understand non-equilibrium phases of quantum materials.
We are seeking motivated undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs to join the group. Please email me directly to discuss opportunities.
For more details, check out the group website at https://zonglab.stanford.edu/