Lab News & Blog

Best Wishes to Avior!

After four years in the Madhavan Group, Avior Almoalem heads to a position at the The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. His diligence, wisdom, and camaraderie will be missed by all.

Rachel Defends Thesis!

Rachel Birchmier has successfully defended her thesis, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy of Strain-Engineered and Strongly Correlated Two-Dimensional Materials! We wish Rachel all the best in her future endeavors.

Yun-Tzu Defends Thesis!

Yun-Tzu Hsu has successfully defended her thesis, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Studies of Strong Correlations in Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides and Strain-Engineered Graphene! Yun-Tzu will go on to be a Process Engineer at Applied Materials in California.

Vidya Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Vidya has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a prestigious distinction earned for her pioneering contribtions to condensed matter research. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Marisa Defends Thesis!

Marisa Romanelli has successfully defended her thesis, STM Studies of the Interplay between Magnetism, Topology, and Heavy Fermion Physics! Marisa will move on as a Postdoc in Dr. Rubio-Verdú's lab at ICFO Barcelona.

Vidya Delivers NYU Seminar

Vidya presents Ultrafast Measurements of Massive Phase Oscillations of a Condensate, an overview of time-resolved STM and experiments with (TaSe4)2I, as part of the New York University Physics Seminar series.

Vidya Speaks at New Directions in Condensed Matter Physics

Vidya presented Vector magnetic field studies of UTe2 as part of the New Directions in Condensed Matter Physics workshop. This occasion celebrates the 75th birthday of Prof. Eduardo Fradkin and honors his pioneering contributions to the field.

Seokjin Wins Boeing Quantum Creators Prize!

Congratulations to Seokjin Bae on winning a 2025 Boeing Quantum Creators Prize for his work in ultrafast light-matter interactions. Read more at ChicagoQuantum.org →

Arjun Defends Thesis!

Arjun Raghavan has successfully defended his thesis, Laser-coupled Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy of Quantum Materials and Qubit Defects! Arjun moves on to a Postdoc in the Baldini Lab at UT Austin.

Vidya Featured in Gordon & Betty Moore Newsletter

Vidya discusses her experience and outlook on research with the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation in Beyond the Lab. Read more at Moore.org →

Vidya Invested as Donald Biggar Willett Professor in Engineering

Vidya was invested as the Donald Biggar Willett Professor in Engineering. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Marisa Selected as Mavis Fellow!

Congratulations to Marisa Romanelli on being selected as a 2024-2025 Mavis Future Faculty Fellow! This program will help her become part of the next generation of great engineering faculty.

Vidya Delivers Berkeley Seminar

Vidya presents Manipulating the symmetry of charge order with light, an overview of laser-STM experiments with the Kagome RbV3Sb5, as part of the Berkeley Physics Seminar series.

Vidya Delivers NTU Symposium

Vidya presents Anecdotes and Science: Musings on My Career Path, a reflection on her personal and professional developments in research, as part of the Nanyang Technological University Institute of Advanced Studies colloquium series.

Vidya Speaks at New Horizons in Condensed Matter Physics

Vidya presented The Curious Case of Magnetic Field Sensitive Charge Density Waves in UTe2 as part of the New Horizons in Condensed Matter Physics workshop. This occasion honors Nobel Prize winner Prof. Anthony J. Leggett and celebrates the renaming of The Anthony J. Leggett Institute for Condensed Matter Theory.

Vidya Speaks at New Frontiers in Emergent Materials

Vidya presents The Strange Case of Magnetic Field Sensitive Charge Density Wavesas part of the New Frontiers in Emergent Materials IIP-Natal WE-Heraeus Workshop.

Madhavan Lab Featured in UIUC Physics Newsletter

Vidya and Anuva Aishwarya discuss recent experiments with unconventional superconductor UTe2 and the unusual disappearance of charge density waves with destroyed superconductivity. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Vidya Speaks at Condensed Matter Physics In the City

Vidya presents The strange case of magnetic field sensitive charge density waves, an overview of STM experiments with unconventional superconductor UTe2 and its strangely disappearing CDW, as part of the annual Condensed Matter Physics In the City conference series at University College London. The event is hosted by the Hubbard Theory Consortium in London, England.

Anuva Defends Thesis!

Anuva Aishwarya has successfully defended her thesis, Exploring the Strongly Correlated Realm of Electrons Using Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy! Anuva moves on to a Postdoc in the Yacoby Lab at Harvard University.

Vidya Elected to AAAS

Vidya has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a prestigious distinction from one of the oldest honorary societies in the country. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Jorge Defends Thesis!

Jorge Olivares Rodriguez has successfully defended his thesis, Stress and Crystal Imperfections: Tools for the Exploration of Unconventional Superconductivity Via Scanning Tunneling Microscopy! Jorge moves on as an Application Scientist at Bruker.

Madhavan Lab Featured in UIUC Physics Newsletter

Vidya and Anuva Aishwarya discuss recent experiments with candidate topological Kondo insulator SmB6 and the application of nanowires in spin-polarized STM. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Anuva Wins Nottingham Prize!

Congratulations to Anuva Aishwarya on being selected for the 2022 Wayne B. Nottingham Prize! This Prize is awarded annually at the Physical Electronics Conference. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Vidya Speaks at Topological Matter School

Vidya presents Measurements of Topological Boundary States in 1D and 2D, STM studies of Majorana Modes, an overview of STM research on topological boundary states and Majorana modes, as part of the Topological Matter School lecture series at the University of Basque Country in San Sebastian, Spain.

Arjun Receives Scott Anderson Award!

Arjun Raghavan has won a Scott Anderson Graduate Research Assistant Award from the Dept. of Physics for the 2021–2022 academic year. Congratulations to Arjun!

Charlie Defends Thesis!

Charlie Steiner has successfully defended his thesis, MBE Growth and STM Study of Chalcogenide Thin Films! We wish Charlie the best in his future endeavors!

Vidya Elected CIFAR Fellow

Vidya has been elected a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research for her innovative STM research of quantum materials.

Guannan Defends Thesis!

Guannan Chen has successfully defended her thesis, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy Study of Layered Transition Metal Chalcogenide Thin Films Tuned by Thickness, Structural Phase, and Heterostructure! Guannan will move on as a Senior Process Engineer at ASM.

Vidya Speaks at ASQM Colloquium

Vidya presents Chiral edge modes in the heavy fermion superconductor UTe2, a review on topological superconductivity and STM experiments with chiral unconventional superconductor UTe2, as part of the annual Atomic Scale Quantum Materials colloquium series at Aalto University in Espoo, Finland.

Vidya Delivers NTU Seminar

Vidya presents Creating and Measuring the Elusive Majorana Fermions, an introduction to Majorana modes and experiments with superconductor FeSe0.45Te0.55, as part of the Nanyang Technological University Institute of Advanced Studies Physics Seminar series.

Vidya Speaks at Rice University

Vidya presents Signatures of dispersing Majorana modes in a proximitized topological material, a review on proximitized topological materials and STM experimental signatures of Majorana modes, as part of the Center for Quantum Materials physics seminar series at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Davide Defends Thesis!

Davide Iaia has successfully defended his thesis, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy Study of Phase Transitions and Topology in Layered Transition Metal Dichalcogenides! Davide moves on as a Product Engineer at Lam Research.

Anuva is a PPG-MRL Fellow!

Anuva Aishwarya has won a PPG-MRL Fellowship for the 2020–2021 academic year. Congratulations to Anuva! Read more at UIUC Physics →

Vidya Speaks at ICAM Global Summit

Vidya presents Recent developments in topological superconductivity, as part of the Insitute for Complex Adaptive Matter Global Summit annual conference. This occasion gathers members of ICAM and the public to discuss advancements in emergent behavior in matter, as well as celebrates the life and pioneering contributions of the late Prof. Philip W. Anderson.

Vidya Named EPiQS Investigator

Vidya has been named an EPiQS Investigator by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. Over the next 5 years, she will be awarded $1.6 million by the foundation. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Vidya Delivers VSF Colloquium

Vidya presents Chiral Edge States in UTe2, a review on topological superconductivity and STM experiments with chiral unconventional superconductor UTe2, as part of the Virtual Science Forum Long Range Colloquium series.

Rachel Wins NDSEG Fellowship!

Congratulations to Rachel Birchmier on receiving a prestigious NDSEG Fellowship from the US Department of Defense for 2020! This 3-year Fellowship will support Rachel's PhD research. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Guannan Receives Scott Anderson Award!

Guannan Chen has won a Scott Anderson Graduate Research Assistant Award from the Dept. of Physics for the 2019-2020 academic year. Congratulations to Guanna!

Madhavan Lab Featured in UIUC Physics Newsletter

Vidya discusses recent experiments with unconventional superconductor UTe2 and the evidence for chirality and realizing Majorana fermions. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Sean Defends Thesis!

Sean Howard has successfully defended his thesis, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Studies of a Tunable Topological Insulator and Magnetic Weyl Semimetal! Sean joins the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory as a Senior Staff Scientist.

Yulia Defends Thesis!

Congratulations to Yulia Maximenko defending her thesis, Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of topological materials and heterostructures in thin films and devices! Yulia becomes a Postdoctoral Fellow at NIST, Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology in Maryland, working with Dr. Joseph A. Stroscio.

Best Wishes to Zhenyu!

After four years in the Madhavan Group, Zhenyu Wang heads to a position at the University of Science and Technology of China – Hefei. His work ethic, guidance, and personality will be missed by all.

Davide Receives Renato Bobone Award!

Davide Iaia has won the 2019 Renato Bobone Award of academic excellence from the Dept. of Physics. Congratulations to Davide!

Anuva Receives Scott Anderson Award!

Anuva Aishwarya has won a Scott Anderson Graduate Research Assistant Award from the Dept. of Physics for the 2018-2019 academic year. Congratulations to Anuva!

Good Luck Somesh!

Somesh Ganguli is accepting a new position as a Postdoc at Aalto University in Finland! We wish him the best of luck with this new opportunity. You will be missed, Somesh!

Madhavan Lab Featured in UIUC Physics Newsletter

Vidya discusses recent experiments with unconventional topological superconductor Sr2RuO4 which shed new light on its electronic properties above Tc. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Vidya Speaks at Center for Integrated Quantum Materials

Vidya presents Interplay between charge density waves, domain walls, and superconductivity in TiSe2 and Cu0.08TiSe2 as part of a Center for Integrated Quantum Materials seminar series

Vidya Speaks at Saturday Physics for Everyone

Vidya presents Visualizing the Quantum World, an introduction to quantum materials and STM, as part of the Saturday Physics for Everyone public lecture series.

Yulia Selected as Mavis Fellow!

Congratulations to Yulia Maximenko on being selected as a 2016-2017 Mavis Future Faculty Fellow! This program will help her become part of the next generation of great engineering faculty. Read more at UIUC Physics →

Vidya Elected APS Fellow

Vidya has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society for her work in topological phases of electronic matter. Read more at UIUC Physics →