Research

Conducting Research that Matters

Whether they are working in core physics areas or collaborating with colleagues in mathematics, computer science, engineering, or life sciences, faculty members and students in WPI’s Physics Department are actively engaged in research to develop practical solutions for real-world problems.

Learn more about two of the areas in which WPI physicists are making groundbreaking discoveries: biophysics and nanoscience.

Biophysics / Soft Matter

Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of physical science to study biological systems by applying the principles of physics and chemistry and the methods of mathematical analysis and computer modeling to understand how biological systems work.

This science seeks to explain biological function in terms of the molecular structures and properties of specific molecules. WPI researchers are making strides in molecular and multimolecular aspects of biophysics by fostering groups engaged in multidisciplinary research in this field.

Biophysics gives us medical imaging technologies including MRI scans, CAT scans, PET scans, and sonograms for diagnosing diseases. It provides the life-saving treatment methods of kidney dialysis, radiation therapy, cardiac deﬁbrillators, and pacemakers.

Biophysics Research Groups

Germano Iannacchione’s group studies order-disorder phenomena in biomaterials. Using calorimetric, dielectric spectroscopic, and optical microscopy techniques, participants study the ordering and self-assembly of biomaterials such as proteins, DNA, and cholesterols. Current work is focused on understanding the elements controlling protein denaturing and folding dynamics, mesoscopic phase behavior of DNA segments, and self-assemblies of filament, tubule, and helical microstructures formed in cholesterol-based model-bile systems.
Qi Wen's group is interested in studying the physics of living cells, particularly the mechanical properties of cell cytoskeleton and the mechanical interactions between cells and extracellular materials. He is leading the experimental biophysics laboratory at WPI's Life Sciences & Bioengineering Center. The research in his lab interfaces with physics, chemistry, nanotechnology, and biomedical engineering. The aim of the research is to understand the physical principles governing the transmission of force inside cells and the transduction of mechanical force into intracellular biochemical signals to regulate cellular functions.

Research in Professor Wen’s group is currently funded by the National Science Foundation. The group is accepting new graduate students, both PhD and master levels. Students with a strong interest in experimental biophysics, good communication skills, and some experimental background are strongly encouraged to apply.

The lab is equipped with a combination of cutting-edge biophysics tools such as fiber optical tweezers, traction force microscopy, and atomic force microscopy, for single cell and single molecule studies. Results from the research will guide the design of novel materials for wound healing, tissue engineering, and tumor treatment.
Kun-Ta Wu’s group is interested in bio-inspired materials such as DNA and proteins, particularly in active matter. Active matter differentiates from conventional passive matter due to its capability to convert chemical energy to mechanical work. Such capability enables active matter to perform the tasks beyond the limit of passive matter, such as transporting cargos and pumping fluids without external pumps. Wu’s group aims to understand the rules and laws of self-organization of active matter along with developing a minimum set of components that mimic living entities to better understand the origin of life. To approach these goals, Wu’s group uses various biomaterials including molecular motors and filamentous proteins to create the fluids that pump themselves: active fluids. Wu’s group uses active fluids as model experimental systems to learn far-from-equilibrium fluidic dynamics driven by millions of molecular motors, and mimic intracellular activity in-vitro such as cytoplasmic streaming.

To gain insights into these dynamic systems, Wu’s group collaborates with Professor Erkan Tüzel (Physics) on modeling the active fluids with particle-based simulations. Wu’s group also closely connects with Brandeis Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) as contributors of Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) and actively participates in MRSEC-associated events such as Winter School and Annual Retreat.|

Professor Wu is seeking for talented students who are eager to challenge the boundary of existing knowledge at the interface of physics, biology and material science. Students who are passionate about the pioneering research in this field are encouraged to contact Professor Wu (kwu@wpi.edu). For more details, please visit the group’s website (labs.wpi.edu/kuntawu).

Nuclear Science and Engineering Group

Dave Medich’s group performs experimental and computational (Monte Carlo) research in the field of applied nuclear physics with a focus on medical and health physics. Presently he is developing a novel technique to enable high-resolution in vivo functional imaging using neutrons, researching localized intensity-modulated Yb-169 HDR brachytherapy, developing a field-deployable nuclear forensics device for radiological and topological characterization, and analyzing the time-dependent resuspension of radioactive Am-241 into the atmosphere.

Nanoscience/Photonics/Electromagnetics

Nanoscience, photonics, and electromagnetics are interdisciplinary fields that incorporate elements of physics, engineering, materials science, biotechnology, and chemistry. With many revolutionary technologies over the past decades, many research endeavors deal with structures and scales that are on the order of 100’s of nanometers or smaller. Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve the ability to see and to control these tiny, individual atoms that make up everything on Earth. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the houses we live in, and even the human body, all consist of atoms. The interaction of photons and electromagnetics at these small scales leads to new interactions between light and matter that include the quantum mechanical properties of matter and structures engineered at the nanoscale level. Research will lead to the next generation of technologies, such a metamaterials, quantum enable devices for information science, and micrometer and nanometer sized sensors with enhanced interactions with matter.

Devices on these small scales and something as small as an atom are impossible to see with the naked eye—in fact, the atom is impossible to see with the typical microscope. Therefore, physicists generally have to invent the instrumentation to study and build things at the nanoscale level. Once physicists developed the right tools, such as nanoscale 3D printers, the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), and the atomic force microscope (AFM), the benefits of nanoscience research to society became very clear.

The potential applications of nanoscience research are considerable, affecting such areas as medicine, transportation, communication, and sustainable energy

Nanoscience/Photonics/Electromagnetics Research Groups

P. K. Aravind’s research centers on quantum mechanics and quantum information theory. He has worked on refinements of proofs of the Bell and Kochen-Specker theorems and their applications to quantum protocols such as state discrimination and cryptography. In 2001 he proposed a scheme (simultaneously with, but independently of, Adan Cabello) for proving Bell’s theorem “without probabilities” using an entangled state of four quantum particles shared between two observers. More recently he and his collaborators have worked on geometric proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem, based on structures such as the 600-cell, that suggest new experimental tests of quantum contextuality.
Nancy Burnham's nanomechanics group studies the mechanical properties of materials at the nanoscale, typically using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Projects in this area take various forms, from instrumentation and nanometrology, to revamping existing theory in light of new experimental data, to applications as diverse as the understanding and control of adhesion (e.g. microsensor and geological surfaces, biofilms), the characterization of tissue-growth substrates, and the development of sustainable asphalt binders for the four million miles of roads in the U.S.

The main area of current interest, for which experimental PhD students would be welcome, is the development of perovskite solar cells. Prior experience with AFM is preferred, but not required. Demonstrated experimental background, good communication skills, and a high level of commitment are advantages to applicants.
Ramdas Ram-Mohan has developed an international reputation as a pioneer in solid state physics, a field that has helped propel extraordinary advances in the speed and power of computers, telecommunications systems, lasers, and other high-tech devices. In addition to exploring the quantum mechanical properties of condensed matter, he has developed powerful computational tools that have made it possible to predict with great accuracy the properties of increasingly complex semiconductor and optoelectronic devices and to precisely control the design of these ubiquitous systems.

Ram-Mohan's work on high-energy physics, condensed matter, and semiconductor physics has resulted in more than 200 peer-reviewed publications that have garnered more than 3,800 citations. He is also the founder of wavefunction engineering, a method for specifying certain quantum properties of semiconductor heterostructures—assemblies of two dissimilar semiconductor materials that display unique electrical or optoelectronic properties. This innovative method arises from the application of the finite element method, or FEM, a numerical analysis technique used widely in engineering, to quantum heterostructures.

Ram-Mohan, recognized as one of the foremost authorities on FEM, described this new field in his landmark 2002 book, Finite Element and Boundary Element Applications to Quantum Mechanics. CCN was created to address the solving of nonlinear problems in many fields utilizing a multidisciplinary approach. Ideas come from physics, numerical analysis, computer science, and other fields of research. Some areas of research being addressed at the CCN include quantum modeling of nanostructures, quantum computation, designing MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems), NEMS (nanoscale electromechanical systems, multicomponent diffusion in fluids and solids, nonlinear optics, and mathematical biology).
Richard Quimby and his students study fundamental aspects of lasers, fiber optics, and optical spectroscopy that are relevant for contemporary photonic devices. Both experimental and numerical modeling work is being pursued. Current interests include modeling of high power fiber lasers, new host materials for mid-infrared fiber lasers, and novel light field distributions in an optical fiber. The latter includes light with orbital angular momentum.
Alex Zozulya's group does research in ultracold atom optics. This includes theoretical analysis of Bose-Einstein condensate-based atom interferometers and gyroscopes, atom "chip" technology and, more recently, atomtronics. The field of atomtronics deals with creating atomic devices and circuits that have functionality of their electronic counterparts and can do much more. One of the most important components of a microelectronic circuit is a transistor.

Several years ago Professor Zozulya's group in collaboration with researchers from University of Colorado at Boulder proposed an atomic device which they called an atom transistor. A transistor enables one to control a large atomic flux with a smaller atomic flux and demonstrates switching and both differential and absolute gain, thus showing behavior similar to that of an electronic transistor. An atom transistor can be used to build a variety of atomtronics circuits such as atom amplifiers, oscillators, or logic gates.
Lyubov Titova and her team at Ultrafast THz and Optical Spectroscopy Lab uses ultrafast optical spectroscopy and terahertz spectroscopy to probe dynamics of charge carriers and photoexcitations in a variety of nanoscale systems, from semiconductor nanocrystals and nanowires to 2D van der Waals materials. Her group is particularly interested in optical processes and charge carrier transport in nanomaterials with applications in photovoltaics, solar fuel production and high-speed optoelectronics. Titova group is a part of WPI Energy Research Group, and collaborates with researchers in Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering Departments. Research in Titova lab is funded by the National Science Foundation, American Chemical Society and Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. For more information, visit Ultrafast THz and Optical Spectroscopy Lab website.
Doug Petkie and his research group of undergraduate and graduate students work at the interface of basic and applied research in the broad area of sensor physics for the development of applications in a wide variety of fields. In the millimeter/submillimeter/terahertz regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (60-1000 GHz), we study a wide range of phenomena from gas phase molecular spectroscopy (breath analysis to the spectroscopy of astrophysical related molecules), micro-Doppler signatures for radar applications (i.e. Star Trek Tricorder), to subsurface sensing of dielectric materials for characterization studies (concealed object/defect detection). With several colleagues at WPI, there are also opportunities to work in the development of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for sensor applications in the Lab for Education and Application Prototypes (LEAP) at WPI and in collaboration with the Manufacturing USA Institute AIM Photonics. PICs primarily function in the visible, near-, and mid-infrared region of the spectrum, but also include microwave photonics. Given the applied focus of his research, his group is also involved in Physics Innovation and Entrepreneurship programs, the NSF I-Corps program, Entrepreneurial Mindset Learning, and Value Creation Initiative. Doug also has interests in Physics Education Research. Current funding is from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) and the National Science Foundation.

Additional Faculty Research Areas

Hektor Kashuri researches noninvasive study of electrical properties of human muscles.
Isabela Stroe's research area is in the hydration effects on protein dynamics, thermodynamics of proteins and DNA, dielectric relaxation spectroscopy, relaxation calorimetry, resonant ultrasound spectroscopy.