Our group maintains active experimental and theoretical research programs at the forefront of both "hard" and "soft" condensed matter physics. Examples of the former are quantum magnets studied by neutron scattering techniques (Broholm, Reich), experiment and theory of magnetic nanostructures and quantum nanowires (Chien, Markovic, Reich, Tchernyshyov, Walker), broadband microwave and terahertz spectroscopy of correlated electron systems (Armitage) and theory of correlated magnets, rare-earth metals and superconductors (Judd, Tesanovic, Tchernyshyov). The latter includes dynamical studies of conformational transition in proteins (Armitage), x-ray and neutron scattering studies of glasses and out-of-equilibrium complex fluids (Leheny), biological applications of nanostructures (Markovic, Reich) and analytic and computer-aided theory of non-equilibrium processes, adhesion and friction (Robbins).

JHU is the home of Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) on magnetic nanostructures and magnetoelectronics, a large NSF funded center for interdisciplinary research in nanotechnology. Nearby NIST, a large government research lab and a premier US facility for neutron scattering research, benefits from close involvement of several JHU groups, most notably through a multi-million dollar Multi Axis Crystal Spectrometer (MACS), conceived and built at JHU. Our group is committed to interdisciplinary research in both hard and soft physical sciences and takes advantage of JHU's preeminent status in nanomaterials, biophysical and biomedical sciences and bioengineering through numerous interactions and collaborations with Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, Biophysics, Biomedical and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, notably under the auspices of the JHU Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT). In addition, the JHU Applied Physics Laboratory has a large program in applied condensed matter sciences and is a leading center in quantum optics and optical quantum computing. Finally, the JHU's central location in the Baltimore-Washington metro area places it at the heart of one of the largest condensed matter science communities in the United States.

Recent Highlights

Johns Hopkins scientists are at the forefront of the exciting new field of iron-based high temperature superconductors. These new materials are different from old copper-oxide-based HTS and offer a possible new pathway to room temperature supercoonductivity and its many applications. See their paper in Nature and the JHU press release.

The JHU led Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) is chosen as a new NSF funded collaboration aiming to enhance minority participation in research and education in nanomaterials. The PREM at Johns Hopkins, Howard University and Prince George's Community College will receive $2.75 million over five years and is one of six new such partnerships receiving a total of $15.4 million from the National Science Foundation. The others are California State and Princeton universities; Jackson State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara; Norfolk State and Cornell universities; Tuskegee and Cornell universities; and the University of New Mexico and Harvard University. The full story is here and here.

Below are several links highlighting the variety of research themes pursued by our group. More details are available at web pages of individual faculty.

• "The BCS-like gap in superconductor SmFeAsO_0.85F_0.15", T. Y. Chen, Z. Tesanovic, R. H. Liu, X. H. Chen, and C. L. Chien, Nature 453, 1224 (2008)
• "d-wave Duality and Its Reflections in High-Temperature Superconductors", Z. Tesanovic, Nature Physics 4, 408 (2008)
• "Bose-Einstein Condensation in Magnetic Insulators", T. Giamarchi, Ch. Regg, and O. Tchernyshyov, Nature Physics 4, 193 (2008)
• "Magnetic microposts as an approach to apply forces to living cells", Nathan J. Sniadecki, Alexandre Anguelouch, Michael T. Yang, Corinne M. Lamb, Zhijun Liu, Stuart B. Kirschner, Yaohua Liu, Daniel H. Reich, and Christopher S. Chen, PNAS 104, 14553 (2007)
• "Mesoscopic Phase Coherence in a Quantum Spin Fluid", Guangyong Xu, C. Broholm, Yeong-Ah Soh, G. Aeppli, J. F. DiTusa, Ying Chen, M. Kenzelmann, C. D. Frost, T. Ito, K. Oka, and H. Takagi, Science 317, 1049 (2007)
• "The Breakdown of Continuum Models for Mechanical Contacts", Binquan Luan and Mark O. Robbins, Nature 435, 929 (2005)
• "Elastic Torque and the Levitation of Metal Wires by a Nematic Liquid Crystal", C. Lapointe, A. Hultgren, D. M. Silevitch, E. J. Felton, D. H. Reich, and R. L. Leheny, Science 303, 652 (2004)

Events & Activities

• Condensed Matter Physics Seminar
• Condensed Matter Physics Journal Club
• Physics and Astronomy Department Colloquium
• Brickwedde Lectures in Physics and Astronomy

The main group activities include a weekly condensed matter physics seminar, journal club and departmental colloquium where latest research developements are discussed with a steady stream of visitors from around the world. In addition, individual research groups hold their own regular schedule of meetings, often in collaboration with other JHU departments. Every year or two an especially distinguished condensed matter physicist spends three days at JHU as a Brickwedde Lecturer in Physics.

Centers, Research Groups & Facilities

Johns Hopkins is the home of NSF funded MRSEC on magnetic nanostructures and a large multidisciplinary Institute for NanoBioTechnology. We also have an active scientific and instrumentation development program at the NIST Center for Neutron Research. State-of-the-art equipment includes RF sputtering, Molecular Beam Epitaxy machine and laser ablation thin film deposition tools, a Focused Ion Beam writer, a class 1000 clean room, Scanning Electron and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, several Dilution Refrigerators for transport and magnetothermal measurements, a cryogenic system for neutron scattering at 11.5 Tesla and 25 mK, and a 64 node beowulf computing cluster as well as most advanced general computing facilities.

• MRSEC: NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center on magnetic nanostructures and magnetoelectronics.
• MACS: Multi Axis Crystal Spectrometer, a cold neutron scattering spectrometer built at JHU and installed at the NIST Center for Neutron Research.
• Nanostructured Materials Laboratory
• INBT: JHU Institute for NanoBioTechnology.
• CNBT: Cold Neutrons for Biology and Technology.
• Multiscale Modeling Group: JHU's NSF funded Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team
• IDG: JHU's state-of-the-art instrument development group.
• Machine shop: A condensed matter experimentalist's best friend.
• Computer center: Top-of-the-line departmental computing facilities.

Contact

Emails and phones
Click on the name in the left panel to get to the web pages, needed email addresses and/or phone numbers of an individual group member.

Regular mail address Department of Physics & Astronomy Bloomberg Center Johns Hopkins University 3400 North Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218

Group/MRSEC manager Ms. Sharon Karsk Bloomberg 325 Email: karsk@pha.jhu.edu Phone: 410.516.8429 Fax: 410.516.7239

Group/MRSEC coordinator Mr. J. Woodland Pomeroy Bloomberg 327 Email: woodland@pha.jhu.edu Phone: 410.516.7381 Fax: 410.516.7239

Visitors
Our group welcomes visitors interested in exchange of scientific ideas and research collaborations. The best way of arranging a visit is to contact the faculty member(s) in your area of interest, preferably by email or phone. The directions to Bloomberg Center are here. Various links of interest in the Baltimore-Washington metro area are here.

Interested in PhD program at JHU?
If you are planning on pursuing PhD studies in condensed matter physics you should be aware that the Johns Hopkins University has much to offer to a talented and ambitious graduate student as one of the leading educational and research institutions in the United States (see various rankings). We have a well-balanced graduate student body with many international, female and minority students. Alumni of our group go on to occupy prominent positions in academia, government and industrial research laboratories, and various financial and business institutions. If you would like to apply for graduate study at JHU this web page has all the relevant information on our PhD program including the application forms: http://www.pha.jhu.edu/admiss/grad/.