Attendees of the Fall 2014 SPS Zone 8 meeting have the opportunity to attend one of six tours of state-of-the-art UIUC research labs. Please make sure you only register for ONE tour. You can find descriptions and links to register for each tour below. Each tour has a maximum occupency of 15 people, so please be sure to sign-up early!
Professor Nadya Mason
Experimental Nanoscience
Our research focuses on transport in nanoscale and mesoscopic systems—particularly carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, nanostructured superconductors, and topological insulators. These systems often exhibit new properties due to confinement and strong electron correlations. Improved understanding of such systems has ramifications for subjects from high-temperature superconductivity to quantum computing. Our experiments connect unique materials, nanoscale structures, and electron correlations to novel fabrication and low-temperature measurements. Major current research thrusts include studying 1) electron interactions in CNTs, 2) superconducting proximity effects in CNTs, graphene, and Nb/Au nanopatterned bilayers, 3) tunneling spectroscopy of graphene and CNTs, and 4) electromechanical behavior of grapheme.
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Prof .Matthias Grosse-Perdekamp
Nuclear Physics Laboratory
The Nuclear Physics Laboratory (NPL) at the U of I carries out research in three areas: the precision measurement of the electric dipole moment of the neutron, a broad program studying structure and formation of hadrons, and the precise determination of sin θ13 through a νe disappearance experiment., We have significant state-of-the-art infrastructure to design and build scientific instrumentation in our laboratory. We focus on the development of instruments for novel experimental approaches to solving open questions in nuclear physics. Recent and current examples include the large volume superconducting spectrometer magnet for the G0 experiment at Jefferson Laboratory, the cryogenic 4He target for the neutron EDM experiment at Oakridge National Laboratory and the W-trigger for the PHENIX experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory., We participate in several large-scale experiments at accelerator and reactor facilities in the United States and abroad. A careful balance between experiments in different stages—R&D, construction, data taking, data analysis—results in a broad spectrum of research opportunities. Our large group—nearly 30 graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduate student researchers—focuses on discovery in fundamental nuclear physics, modern data analysis techniques, and advanced instrumentation.
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Professor Taekjip Ha
Physics of Living Cells
Taekjip Ha uses sophisticated physical techniques to manipulate and visualize the movements of single molecules to understand basic biological processes involving DNA and other molecules.
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Professor Laura Greene
High-Temperature Superconductivity
Our main research efforts are directed towards understanding the physics of highly correlated electron materials, focusing on superconductors. In particular, we study how electrons cross superconducting interfaces with a powerful technique known as tunneling spectroscopy. These measurements are mostly performed on thin films of low-temperature and high-temperature superconductors that we grow in our own laboratory. In our studies of low-temperature superconductors, we have found novel ways to study electronic transport across the superconductor-semiconductor interface. In our studies of high-temperature superconductors, we have found that tunneling spectroscopy can be used to probe symmetries that are broken in nature, and recently discovered a superconducting state that breaks time-reversal symmetry.
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Professor Steve Errede
Acoustical Physics of Musical Instruments
Physics of all kinds of music and musical instruments, the generation and propagation of sound waves in various media, and acoustics in general. Sound waves and propagation of sound waves, complex vibrations and resonance phenomena, perception of sound, tone quality, frequency and pitch, musical intervals, scales, tuning & temperament, all kinds of musical instruments, all kinds of music, auditorium and room acoustics, sound transducers, microphones, loudspeakers and loudspeaker enclosure design.
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Prof. Paul Kwiat
Quantum Information Laboratory
Our research interests include:
Fundamental studies of quantum mechanics,
Optical quantum information resources including single-photon sources, single-photon detectors, sources of entanglement, quantum random number generators, and adaptive optics,
Applications such as quantum key distribution, quantum state and process tomography, quantum state creation and remote preparation, hyperentanglement-enhanced quantum communication, quantum-enhanced precision measurements, and quantum memory,
The interaction of quantum states of light with biological systems, including the human visual system
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