Harry A. Atwater, Jr. is the Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science at Caltech. His areas of research interest include ferroelectrics, plasmonics, photovoltaics, and semiconductor nanocrystal optoelectronics. In addition to research, Atwater also teaches graduate level Applied Physics classes in optoelectronics, solid state physics and device physics.
Atwater received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from M.I.T. in 1981, 1983, and 1987, respectively. He has been on the faculty at Caltech since 1988.