Michael Crommie | Research UC Berkeley

Research Expertise and Interest

physics, electronic properties of atomic-scale structures at surfaces, atomic-scale structures, morphology and dynamics of mesoscopic systems, atomic manipulation, visualizing low dimensional electronic behavior

Research Description

Michael Crommie is a professor in the Department of Physics. His main research interests lie in exploring the local electronic, magnetic, and mechanical properties of atomic and molecular structures at surfaces. He is interested in studying how local interactions between atomic-scale structures affect their microscopic behavior, and how quantum mechanical effects might influence nanodevice behavior in very small structures. His main experimental tool is scanned probe microscopy, which can be used in combination with other experimental tools to both fabricate atomic-scale structures and probe them spectroscopically.

See current projects.

In the News

Physicists snap first image of an ‘electron ice’

More than 90 years ago, physicist Eugene Wigner predicted that at low densities and cold temperatures, electrons that usually zip through materials would freeze into place, forming an electron ice, or what has been dubbed a Wigner crystal. While physicists have obtained indirect evidence that Wigner crystals exist, no one has been able to snap a picture of one — until now. UC Berkeley physicists published last week in the journal Nature an image of just such an electron ice sandwiched between two semiconductor layers. The image is proof positive that these crystals exist.

This Exotic Particle Had an Out-of-Body Experience; These Scientists Took a Picture of It

Scientists have taken the clearest picture yet of electronic particles that make up a mysterious magnetic state called a quantum spin liquid (QSL). The achievement could facilitate the development of superfast quantum computers and energy-efficient superconductors.

four frames from the video showing a blue/green pattern appearing and disappearing against a yellow background

Graphene ‘camera’ captures real-time electrical activity of beating heart

Bay Area scientists have captured the real-time electrical activity of a beating heart, using a sheet of graphene to record an optical image — almost like a video camera — of the faint electric fields generated by the rhythmic firing of the heart’s muscle cells.

graphic of a dark-orange nanoribbon with periodic white hills indicating electrons

Metal wires of carbon complete toolbox for carbon-based computers

Transistors based on carbon rather than silicon could potentially boost computers’ speed and cut their power consumption more than a thousandfold — think of a mobile phone that holds its charge for months — but the set of tools needed to build working carbon circuits has remained incomplete until now.

Tying electrons down with nanoribbons

UC Berkeley scientists have discovered possible role for narrow strips of graphene, called nanoribbons, as nanoscale electron traps with potential applications in quantum computers.

Bats do it, dolphins do it. Now humans can do it too.

UC Berkeley physicists have used graphene to build lightweight ultrasonic loudspeakers and microphones, enabling people to mimic bats or dolphins’ ability to use sound to communicate and gauge the distance and speed of objects around them.

From the Bottom Up: Manipulating Nanoribbons at the Molecular Level

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a new precision approach for synthesizing graphene nanoribbons from pre-designed molecular building blocks. Using this process the researchers have built nanoribbons that have enhanced properties—such as position-dependent, tunable bandgaps—that are potentially very useful for next-generation electronic circuitry.

Long Predicted Atomic Collapse State Observed in Graphene

The first experimental observation of a quantum mechanical phenomenon that was predicted nearly 70 years ago holds important implications for the future of graphene-based electronic devices.

Direct Imaging by Berkeley Lab Researchers Confirms the Importance of Electron-Electron Interactions in Graphene

Perhaps no other material is generating as much excitement in the electronics world as graphene. For the vast potential of graphene to be fully realized, however, scientists must first learn more about what makes graphene so super. The latest step in this direction has been taken by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley.

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