Physical & Biological Sciences Division
Professor
Director, Materials Science & Engineering Program
Faculty
Interdisciplinary Sciences Building
212 ISB
Westend Research Park, 2300 Delaware Ave. (Lab)
Physics Department
I obtained my B.S. in Physics with Honors at Stanford University in 1988 and my Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1992, where I studied the phase transition properties of antiferromagnetic superlattices grown via MBE under the supervision of Prof. Vince Jaccarino. From 1992 to 1995 I was a postdoctoral researcher, project scientist, and lecturer at the University of California, San Diego, where I studied the properties of high temperature superconducting thin films and exchange bias in antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic heterostructures with Prof. Ivan K. Schuller. In 1995 I joined the faculty of the Physics Department at the West Virginia University as an Assistant Professor, eventually becoming a full tenured professor in 2005 and the Robert L. Carroll Chair Professor in 2009. From December 2013 to June 2015 I served as Interim Department Chair. In 2015 I joined the faculty of the Physics Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, as a full Professor and Director of the UCSC Materials Science Initiative. Since 1995, I have supervised the research of 10 postdoctoral researchers and 18 graduate students. At WVU I also led a university-wide effort to accelerate research and education focusing on nanoscale science and engineering.
- Magnetic nanostructures and interfaces
- Multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials and interfaces
- Topological insulators
- Bioelectronics
Most of my work during the past twenty years has been directed at understanding the physics of interfaces between dissimilar materials, especially the magnetic, ferroelectric, and magnetoelectric properties. I am also interested in understanding the properties of correlated electron effects of surfaces and interfaces, such as those in topological insulators. I also study bioelectronic materials, consisting of hybrid solid state/biomolecular interfaces which lead to new functionalities useful in future biological system/electronic device communication and fuctionality.
- 2011 Benedum Distinguished Scholar, WVU for distinction in research, scholarship or creative activity (funded by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation)
- 2010-2015 Robert C. Byrd Professor, WVU, for outstanding achievement and distinction in research and other scholarly work
- 2004-2006 Woodburn Professor, Eberly College of Arts & Sciences, WVU
- 2004 Outstanding Researcher Award, Eberly College of Arts & Sciences, WVU
- 1998-2002 National Science Foundation CAREER Award Recipient
- Invited Speaker 1993, 1998 March Meeting of the American Physical Society
- Grants: Have received grants as a PI or co-PI from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the Office of Naval Research, the Petroleum Research Fund, the Semiconductor Research Corporation
