Campus Directory

Division Physical & Biological Sciences Division

Department/College/Unit Physics Department

Title Professor
Director, Materials Science & Engineering Initiative

Affiliation Faculty

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Areas of Expertise Solid State Physics
Material Science
Physics
Applied Physics

Web Site

Primary Office Location Interdisciplinary Sciences Building
212 ISB

Additional Location(s) Westend Research Park, 2300 Delaware Ave. (Lab)

Office Hours T 10-11 AM, Th 2-3 PM

Mail Stop Physics Department

Biography, Education and Training

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.   

Summary of Expertise

1. Magnetic nanostructures and interfaces
2. Multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials and interfaces
3. Topological insulators
4. Bioelectronics

Research Interests

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.  

Awards, Honors and Grants

• 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

Courses PHYS 112, Thermodyanmics & Statistical Mechanics (Winter 2019)