Research Overview
Technology is driven by new materials. Today's materials frontier lies in the design of emergent properties at interfaces and small length scales. Our research combines atomic layer-by-layer growth and atomic resolution imaging of materials, to uncover new physics and applications inaccessible via bulk synthesis and probes. We use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) to investigate fundamental mechanisms of electron pairing and technical challenges of vortex pinning in high-Tc superconductors. We use conducting atomic force microscopy (CAFM) to control the insulator-to-metal transition in VO2 at the nanoscale. We use STM to discover the strongly correlated topological states in SmB6. We design acoustic metamaterials to mimic and understand quantum properties.
News
Aug 2026
Congratulations, Dr. Richard Liu, on your new faculty position at Northeastern!
May 2026
Congratulations, Dr. Tatiana Webb, on your new faculty position at City College New York!
Jan 2026
Congratulations, Dr. Harry Pirie, on your new faculty position at Rice!
Aug 2025
Congratulations, Dr. Mengke Liu, on your new faculty position at U. Texas Dallas!- See older news...
Opportunities
- Harvard undergrads: see 2026 projects and contact Prof. Hoffman any time with the information here.
- Harvard graduate students & admitted prospectives: talk to Prof. Hoffman and visit the lab.
- Prospective graduate students: see admissions info for PhD programs in
◦ Physics
◦ School of Engineering & Applied Science
◦ Quantum Science & Engineering - Prospective postdocs: contact Prof. Hoffman any time with the information here.
- Visitors: we do not have funding for visiting students, but if you have your own funding please email Prof. Hoffman with the information here.
Harvard is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.