| Michael Roukes | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 9, 1953 Redwood City, California |
| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | Physics, Applied Physics, Bioengineering |
| Institutions | California Institute of Technology |
| Alma mater | Cornell University UCSC |
| Known for | nanoscience, nanoelectromechanical systems, nanobiotechnology |
Michael Lee Roukes (born October 9, 1953) is an American experimental physicist, nanoscientist, and the Robert M. Abbey Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Roukes was born in Redwood City, California. After earning B.A. degrees in physics and chemistry (double majors) in 1978 at University of California, Santa Cruz, with highest honors in both majors, he received his Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University in 1985. His graduate advisor at Cornell was Nobel Laureate, Robert Coleman Richardson. Roukes’ thesis research at Cornell elucidated the electron-phonon bottleneck at ultra low temperatures;[1] the hot electron effect that is now recapitulated in texts on solid state transport physics. Stated in simplest terms, when electrons carry current in normal conductors, they heat up. At low temperatures and, now, in nanoscale devices at ordinary temperatures, their ability to dissipate this heat can be significantly impaired. This has generic implications for the operation of powered nanodevices.
After earning his Ph.D., Roukes spent seven years as a Member of Technical Staff / Principal Investigator in the Quantum Structures Research group at Bell Communications Research in New Jersey, focusing on mesoscopic physics of electron transport in nanostructures. Roukes left Bellcore to become a tenured Associate Professor of Physics at Caltech in 1992, rising to full professorship in 1995, and subsequently became Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Bioengineering in 2000. Upon moving to Caltech, his principal research focus changed to nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS).[2] Many alumni from his group continue to advance this field at major universities in the U.S. and abroad.[3] Roukes' other research efforts at Caltech have focused on thermal properties of nanostructures, semiconductor spintronics, and, more recently, nanobiotechnology.
In 2002 Roukes was named the founding Director of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI) at Caltech. After stepping down between 2006–2008, to focus on co-founding the international Alliance for Nanosystems VLSI (very large scale integration) and to pursue collaborative research on NEMS VLSI in connection with a Chaire d’Excellence in Nanoscience in Grenoble (with scientists at CEA/LETI-Minatec), Roukes returned as co-Director of the KNI in 2008.
Roukes was named a recipient of a National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award in 2010.
Among his groups' principal achievements at Bell were observation of quenching of the Hall effect in a quasi-one dimensional wire,[4] elucidation of electron-boundary scattering in quantum wires,[5] invention of "anti"-dots[6] and elucidation of commensurability effects in this system,[7] first elucidation of chaotic transport in mesoscopic conductor,[8] and direct measurement of the transmission matrix for a mesoscopic conductor.[9] Among his groups' principal achievements at Caltech are development of the first nanoelectromechanical systems,[10] measurement of the quantum of thermal conductance,[11] first attainment of attogram mass resolution with a NEMS resonator,[12] first measurement of nanodevice motion at microwave frequencies,[13] discovery of the giant planar Hall effect in semiconducting ferromagnets,[14] observation and control of a single domain wall in a ferromagnetic semiconducting wire,[15] first demonstration of zeptogram-scale mass sensing,[16] first coupling of a qubit to a NEMS resonator,[17] and first demonstration of nanomechanical mass spectrometry of single protein molecules.[18] Roukes has authored or co-authored highly cited general interest articles on nanophysics,[19] nanoelectromechanical systems,[20][21] spintronics,[22] and quantum electromechanics.[23]
Roukes and his collaborators have, over the past 16 years, accrued 32 patents in the field of NEMS.
An electron micrograph of the quantum of thermal conductance device, taken by postdoc Keith Schwab and colorized by Roukes, was acquired for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in 2008.[24]
Roukes organized TEDxCaltech - Feynman’s Vision: The Next 50 Years, held on January 14, 2011, which celebrated the genius of Caltech physicist Richard Feynman in a series of forward-looking talks in the TED (conference) format. Talks from this event can be found online.