Experimental Condensed Matter Physics at BU

Condensed matter experiments examine the structure and behavior of condensed states of matter where interactions between adjacent atoms, molecules, and electrons determine the physical nature of the material. Condensed matter physics occupies a unique niche in physics. Developments in this field are often of equal importance for technological applications and for improving our fundamental understanding of the nature of matter. One need only consider the revolution caused by the development of the transistor, and a similar one likely to follow from the discovery of high-temperature superconductors.

Boston University continues its rapid growth in condensed-matter physics with strong research efforts in photonics, scattering physics, surface physics, advanced materials physics, low-dimensional electronic systems, low-temperature physics, and structural biology and chemistry. Condensed matter experimentalists in the Physics Department are also playing major roles in the University’s Photonics Research Center and Center for Nanoscience and Nanobiotechnology. In these efforts, as well as many others, condensed matter experimentalists work in close association with scientists in the College of Engineering.

Research

  • Rama Bansil | Studies of Gels
  • David Bishop |Low Temperature Physics and Mechanical Properties of Materials at Low Temperatures
  • Keith Brown | Nanomanufacturing and Hierarchical Materials
  • Scott Bunch | Nanomechanical Properties of a New Class of 2D Atomically Thin Materials
  • Michael El-Batanouny | Experimental and Theoretical Surface Physics
  • Wanzheng Hu | Dynamical Materials Control with Light
  • Maria Kamenetska | Nano-materials, single molecule techniques, biophysics
  • Karl Ludwig | Real-Time X-ray Studies of Materials Processes
  • Raj Mahonty | Fluid Dynamics with Ions and Proteins
  • Kevin Smith | Novel Materials
  • Alex Sushkov | Quantum sensing with spin qubits, lab searches for ultralight dark matter
  • Anna Swan | High Spatial Resolution Spectroscopy
  • M. Selim Ünlü | Near-Field Optical Microscopy and Spectroscopy
  • Alice White | Fabrication and Packaging of Optical and Electronic Devices