Assistant Professor
Research Interests:
Quantum materials:
Our group develops techniques to synthesize novel materials and characterize their fundamental physical, magnetic, and electronic properties. The goal of this effort is to uncover emergent properties in many-body quantum systems — low-dimensional and frustrated magnets, correlated electron materials, superconductors, and materials with non-trivial topological properties. We use a variety of solid state chemistry techniques to synthesize both bulk and mesoscopic materials.
Quantum sensing:
We employ highly coherent and controllable spin qubits based on color centers in semiconductors — primarily nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond — as sensitive nanoscale sensors of both static and radio-frequency fields. Integrating these defects into a cryogenic microscope allows us to investigate the properties of the quantum materials we create with high sensitivity and resolution.
Biography:
Nikola is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics, and is a member of the Division of Materials Science and Engineering. Prior to joining BU in 2026, he was an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Physics at Harvard University working with Prof. Amir Yacoby. He completed his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of California, Berkeley in 2022 under the supervision of Prof. James Analytis. He received a BS in Engineering Physics and in Applied Mathematics at the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2016.