Playing with condensed matter

My research is in the physics department in a field called "Experimental Condensed Matter Physics." This sounds fancy, so let's break it down.

"Experimental”, as opposed to "theoretical”, implies that the work my lab is doing is about creating devices to set up experiments to push the limits of our empirical collection of knowledge, as opposed to primarily playing with very complicated math and trying to come up with new equations and theories, as someone in theoretical physics would do. There is overlap, but it is perhaps the most high level and important distinction to make. While both are very well versed and intelligent, theoretical physicists study more math (stuff like differential geometry, group and category theory, linear algebra). Simultaneously, experimentalists focus more on the nuts and bolts (simulation software, coding, circuits, and some engineering, and grant writing!)

Next, we have "Condensed Matter Physics," which deals with material properties of matter based on the microscopic scales. Why are some materials hard, brittle, good conductors, etc.? You may have learned that physics or chemistry a lot has to do with electrons and how they are positioned in atoms. CM physics dives deeper-- atomic symmetries, simulated electron orbitals, crystal lattices, and other fun stuff. It's like if physics hooked up with chemistry and had a baby, but the baby has physics' eyes, hair, and nose, but perhaps chemistry's ears.

Now, what my lab does. The Ben Feldman lab (named after the 40-something-year-old who runs it, awesome guy!) studies "Van der Waals Heterostructures" or heterostructures for short. Essentially they are 2D sheets of materials. When you stack them on top of each other in different arrangements and at different angles, lots of cool stuff happens (like superconduction, which you may know about. It means electrical current can go with NO resistance. No resistance means no power is dissipated, which means electronics that stay cool, run faster, and cost less, so VERY applicable. Superconduction, by the way, is arguably the crown jewel of condensed matter physics.)

That was a lot. Take a deep breath. Hopefully, you are still reading. Don't feel confused by any of this because I am going very high level without a lot of explanation (or you could understand all of it correctly, and I am overreacting because I am naive). Now, what do I do?

We have a device called a "Single Electron Transistor" which acts like a SUPER sensitive charge detector (it can tell the difference between an electron and theoretically 0.0000001% of an electron charge). This can be used as a "microscope" by scanning over a sample (say, of one of those heterostructures!). However, there are some problems with it right now. For one, it is incredibly small-- like several nanometers small. This means its hard to know where you are actually pointing the microscope and how far away it is from what you are trying to observe. This is where I come in!

I am using software called COMSOL multiphysics, which allows me to make a physical environment and then simulate the physics going on. It is super dope and widely used in science and engineering (FEA or "finite element analysis" software). Using COMSOL to try to model the device's electrical properties and comparing it with data from MATLAB, I am trying to extract a piece of information that makes the whole thing work, called the "Coulomb Blockade Period" (that is beyond the scope of this email, but I can always answer Qs later).

I know that was a ton, and I barely have scratched the surface, but I am always here to answer questions and help in any way I can. Although this experience has largely turned me away from CM physics research, it has been valuable for just that reason! While it is an exciting and challenging puzzle, I think I enjoy a more collaborative environment with problems that more directly impact people, so virtual research on a nanoscopic probe isn't the ideal scenario. Nonetheless, I have learned a ton about physics and myself, so if you have the opportunity to research in any field, remember that it helps you understand what you like and don't like.