The experimental condensed matter physics group encompasses a broad and internationally visible research portfolio focused on the discovery, characterization, and control of quantum and the experimental condensed matter physics group encompasses a broad and internationally visible research portfolio focused on the discovery, characterization, and control of quantum and functional materials. Faculty in this area employ advanced experimental approaches—including scanning probe microscopy, ultrafast and nonlinear optical spectroscopy, transport measurements under extreme conditions, and nanofabrication—to investigate low-dimensional systems, spintronic devices, topological phases, and quantum magnets. Research efforts span foundational studies of electronic, optical, and spin-related behavior to applications relevant to quantum information science, nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, and energy technologies. Collectively, experimental condensed matter faculty at UA have made influential contributions to fields such as two-dimensional materials, ultrafast dynamics, and magnetic tunnel junctions.
Experimental Condensed Matter Physics Faculty
The Kong group focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization of materials with novel magnetic and electronic properties, for the purposes of bettering our understanding and control of emergent electronic behavior in quantum materials. Our lab has a strong emphasis on discovering new materials as well as single crystal growth. We use detailed structural, thermodynamic and transport measurements to study the physical properties of these new materials. Recent work has led to the discovery of new quantum magnetic ground states in geometrically frustrated systems and the identification of new layered magnetic materials. Kong’s research program has been recognized with an NSF CAREER Award in 2024.
The LeRoy group investigates the electronic, optical, and nanoscale properties of low-dimensional and quantum materials. The group is widely recognized for pioneering scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy studies of graphene and other two-dimensional materials, including landmark measurements of the moiré pattern between graphene and hexagonal boron nitride and twisted moiré materials. These experiments provided some of the earliest direct real-space and energy-resolved views of relativistic charge carriers in graphene and helped establish scanning probe techniques as essential tools for studying 2D quantum materials. Building on this foundation, the group continues to explore emergent phenomena in van der Waals heterostructures and related systems using advanced microscopy, spectroscopy, and nanofabrication techniques. The LeRoy group has been recognized with various awards including an NSF CAREER award and election as an APS Fellow in 2019.
The Schaibley group conducts experimental research at the intersection of condensed matter physics, optics and quantum science, focusing on interactions between electrons and photons in nanoscale materials. Much of the work centers on two-dimensional materials and heterostructures composed of transition metal dichalcogenides, hexagonal boron nitride, and graphene, motivated by applications in energy-efficient electronics and quantum technologies. The group is well known for developing the first bilayer heterostructures hosting exotic excitonic effects and continues to advance semiconductor quantum dot systems as quantum light emitters. Schaibley’s research has been recognized with awards including the AFOSR Young Investigator Award and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation: 2025 Experimental Physics Experimental Investigator Award.
The Wang group studies charge, spin, and Cooper-pair transport across nanometer-scale barriers with the goal of enabling ultrafast and energy-efficient quantum devices. Using magnetron-sputtered heterostructures informed by density functional theory, the group has developed magnetic tunnel junctions and Josephson junctions with high-quality interfaces, engineered symmetry, and thermal robustness up to 400 °C. By employing voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy and remote-doping strategies, sub-nanosecond switching with a record-low energy of 3.5 fJ has been achieved, while ultrafast demagnetization and ferrimagnetic dynamics further push switching speeds toward the 100 ps regime. Wang’s research has been recognized with an NSF CAREER award.
