Research Interests

Nanoscale Science and Technology:  Atomic and Molecular Manipulation

Throughout history, humans have sought to expand their mastery of the material world.  Our ability to manipulate matter has been continuously refined, extending to constructions of colossal size and extreme complexity.  Progress in the diametric direction of diminishing scale has proved increasingly vital to society.  Well-known contemporary examples include the microelectronic and biotechnology industries.  The efforts within these fields rely predominantly on new tools that extend control, and measurements, to progressively smaller length scales. 

Instead of this "top-down" approach, what if we proceed from the bottom and work our way up?  For the first time, we are poised to explore critical science starting from the basic building blocks of matter—single atoms.  So the question now becomes: rather than work our way down from the macroscopic level, what can we learn if we build up from the atomic realm?  The answer, not surprisingly, seems both manifold and deep. 

My research program seeks to apply the "bottom-up" approach of atomic and molecular manipulation to a variety of outstanding problems in science and technology.  The effort is interdisciplinary in nature, centering on physics and engineering but involving ideas, techniques, and conundrums from other fields such as chemistry, biology, materials science, and information technology.  The primary experimental apparatus for these investigations are custom-built low-temperature scanning probe microscopes capable of both studying and controlling matter at atomic length scales. 

Research projects, whose motivations are drawn from several research frontiers, include: 

• Atomic and Molecular Manipulation
  
• Atom-by-atom Nanoassembly and Single Quanta Probes
  
• Single Atom Spintronics
  
• Local Probes of Correlated Electrons in Reduced Dimensions
  
• Emergent Ordering in Complex Materials
  
• New Paradigms for Computation at the Spatial Limit
  
• Atomic and Molecular Electronics
  
• Graphene
  
• Diamondoids
  
• Topological Insulators and Metals
  
• Dirac Materials and Dirac Fermions
  
• Visualizing Quantum Phase and Topological Order

My research group:

• Manoharan Lab — Manipulation Of The Atom

Our research fields: 

• Experimental Condensed Matter
• Microscopy and Imaging
• Mesoscopic Physics
• Superconductivity

Career History

• B.S.E. Princeton University (1991).
• M.S. Stanford University (1992).
• M.A. Princeton University (1993).
• Ph.D. Princeton University (1997).
• Research Scientist, IBM Almaden Research Center (1998-2000).
• Assistant Professor of Physics, Stanford University (2001-2009).
• Assistant Professor, by Courtesy, of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University (2001-2009).
• Assistant Professor, by Courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering (2001-2009).
• Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Physics, Stanford University (2009-present).
• Associate Professor of Physics, Stanford University (2010-present).

Awards

• Hertz Foundation Fellow (1991-96).
• Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellow (1996-97).
• Wallace Memorial Fellow (1996-97).
• IBM Invention Achievement Award (2000).
• IBM TEAM Patent Award (2000).
• Research Corporation Research Innovation Award (2002).
• Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (2002-2003).
• ONR Young Investigator (2002-2004).
• NSF CAREER Award (2002-2006).
• Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE, 2004)
• Stanford Terman Fellowship (2008-2010)

News

• http://mota.stanford.edu/press.htm