Frank Zhao earned his B. Sc. (Honors) degree at University of Toronto, where he studied Mathematics and Physics. For his doctoral research, he studied emergent quantum phenomena at atomically clean interfaces between air sensitive 2D materials in mesoscopic devices, with Philip Kim at Columbia and Harvard University. He continued his research at MIT with Joe Checkelsky where he synthesized new unconventional superconductors, which he measured using structural, transport and magnetic probes at low temperature and high magnetic field. He will combine material synthesis and cryogenic van der Waals stacking techniques to discover emergent phenomena at the interface between quantum materials.

The Quantum Interfaces Laboratory studies emergent quantum phenomena at the interface between crystalline lattices. We combine thermodynamic single-crystal synthesis with deterministic van der Waals stacking techniques to realize atomically clean interfaces between arbitrary (even air- or heat-sensitive) van der Waals materials. Using novel lithographic techniques, we pattern these heterostructures into micro- and nanometer scale devices without any exposure to air, heat, or chemicals. Using structural probes alongside transport, magnetic and thermodynamic measurements, we aim to elucidate the relationship between a material or heterostructure’s lattice structure and its electronic properties. Finally, we aim to use this understanding to design and benchmark devices for future technology.

Research Area:

• Condensed Matter Experiment
• Quantum Science and Technology
• Chemical Physics

 Centers & Institutes: Quantum Materials Center

 Physics 276: Experimental Physics II

Aaron Sternbach earned a B.A. degree in physics from Boston University where he investigated metamaterial assisted light-induced phase transitions. After studying at the University of California San Diego, Dr. Sternbach moved to Columbia University where he received a Ph.D in 2020. His thesis concerns the dynamics of quantum materials, investigated with ultrafast nano optical experimental methods. He was awarded the Townes Fellowship for his thesis work in 2019. After his thesis work he served as a Energy Frontiers Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University until 2023. He joined the University of Maryland as an an Assistant Professor in 2024. Dr. Sternbach's interests include the physics of optically driven Quantum Materials. 

The Sternbach lab adapts and uses optical technologies to explore the physics of quantum materials. Nano-optical probes enable a spatial resolution of about 10 nanometers from the far to near infrared (0.1-500 THz). These probes are used to explore phenomena including naturally occurring nano or mesoscale inhomogeneities. The momentum afforded by these probes is also leveraged to explore hybrid light-matter ‘polaritons’, which can propagate in, or at interfaces with, select quantum materials with sub-diffraction limited confinement. These techniques are used with pulsed light sources to explore transient states and interrogate non-linear properties of quantum matter. 

Research Areas:

• Condensed Matter Experiment
• Atomic, Molecular & Optical
• Quantum Science and Technology

Centers & Institutes: Quantum Materials Center

 

 Physics 487/687: Computerized Instrumentation

Maria Mukhina received a PhD degree in Optics (2013) from ITMO University (Saint Petersburg, Russia) where she investigated the physics of anisotropic and chiral nanocrystals. This work was supported by the Scholarship of the President of the Russian Federation for Young Scientists and Graduate Students. In 2016, Dr. Mukhina started her postdoctoral appointment at Harvard University where she worked on intracellular force sensing as applied to the mechanics of chromosomes. Dr. Mukhina joined UMD Physics as an assistant professor in 2024. Her research relies on nanobiotechnology, materials science, and new microscopy techniques to elucidate the mechanics of the genome.

Dr. Mukhina’s lab is interested in how cells use mechanical energy to operate and regulate subcellular structures consisting of millions of molecules. These structures generate, transduce, and respond to mechanical forces and strains that originate at the individual molecules and scale up to microns. To access this information, the lab develops intracellular force nanoprobes with quantitative optical readout, in vivo force-generating apparatus, in situ mechano-molecular controls, and novel adaptations of super-resolution imaging to be used in a synergistic combination. They apply these tools to elucidate the biochemistry-agnostic mechanisms of a number of pathways where piconewton forces are thought to be important. The special focus is on the pathways that cells use to distribute regulatory information and orchestrate global transitions between different functional architectures of the genome, both physiological and pathological.

Research Area: Biophysics

Institute for Physical Science & Technology

Exploring the Mechanics of Life’s Tiniest Machines

Nathan Schine received his B.A. in physics from Williams College in 2013 and his Ph.D. in 2019 from the University of Chicago. There, he worked with Jonathan Simon to create strongly-interacting topological materials made of light. Nathan then joined the lab of Adam Kaufman at JILA as an NRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow where he developed a state-of-the-art strontium tweezer array apparatus for investigations of ultra-coherent optical atomic clocks, quantum information processing, and many-body physics. In the fall of 2022, Nathan joined the faculty at the University of Maryland. His group focuses on the intersection of controlled coherent dynamics and engineered dissipation in quantum systems, implemented by interfacing a neutral atom array with an optical cavity.

Research Areas:

• Atomic, Molecular & Optical
• Quantum Science and Technology

• Nathan Schine Twists Photons and Cools Atoms in a Unique Quantum Dance