Meet the Female Faculty of the Columbia Quantum Initiative

Ana Asenjo-Garcia

Research Focus: Theoretical problems that intersect with quantum optics, atomic physics, open quantum systems, and condensed matter. 

Current Position:

• Assistant Professor of Physics, Columbia School of Arts and Sciences

Highlighted Publications:

• Many-Body Signatures of Collective Decay in Atomic Chains. Physics Review Letters (2020)
• Universality of Dicke superradiance in arrays of quantum emitters. arXiv (2021)

Katayun Barmak

Research Focus: Differences in materials at macro-, micro-, and nano-scales, with a particular interest in material synthesis, structure, and phase transformations

Current Position: 

• Philips Electronics Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia Engineering

Highlighted Publications:

• Free Trions with Near-Unity Quantum Yield in Monolayer MoSe₂. ACS Nano (2022)

• Simulation of Hubbard model physics in WSe₂/WS₂ moiré superlattices. Nature (2020)

Keren Bergman

Research Focus: Optical interconnection networks for advanced computing systems, data centers, optical packet-switched routers, and nanophotonic networks-on-chip for chip multiprocessors. 

Current Positions:

• Charles Batchelor Professor of Electrical Engineering, Columbia Engineering
• Scientific Director of the Columbia Nano Initiative

Highlighted Publications:

• Ultra-Broadband Interleaver for Extreme Wavelength Scaling in Silicon Photonic Links. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters (2021) 
• High-Performance Modulators and Switches for Silicon Photonic Networks-on-Chip. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics (2010)

Michal Lipson

Research Focus: The physics and applications of nanophotonic structures, with a focus on structures that can slow down, trap, enhance, and manipulate light.

Current Positions:

• Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering, Columbia Engineering
• Professor of Applied Physics, Columbia Engineering

Highlighted Publications:

• Battery-operated integrated frequency comb generator. Nature (2018)

• Quantum interference between transverse spatial waveguide modes. Nature Communications (2017)

Raquel Queiroz

Research Focus: Quantum phenomena of condensed matter systems, with a focus on symmetry and topology. 

Current Position:

• Assistant Professor of Physics, Columbia School of Arts and Sciences

Highlighted Publications:

• Partial Lattice Defects in Higher-Order Topological Insulators. Physical Review Letters (2019)
• Boundary-obstructed topological phases. Physical Review Research (2021)

Latha Venkataraman 

Research Focus: The fundamental properties of single-molecule devices to understand the interplay of physics, chemistry, and engineering at the nanometer scale.

Current Positions:

• Lawrence Gussman Professor of Applied Physics, Columbia Engineering
• Professor of Chemistry, Columbia School of Arts and Sciences
• Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs
• Director of the CCI Center for Chemistry of with Electric Fields

Highlighted Publications:

• Highly nonlinear transport across single-molecule junctions via destructive quantum interference. Nature Nanotechnology (2021)
• Dependence of single-molecule junction conductance on molecular conformation. Nature (2006)

Renata Wentzcovitch 

Research Focus: Computational quantum mechanical studies of materials at extreme conditions, especially at the planetary scale.

Current Positions:

• Professor of Material Science and Engineering, Columbia Engineering
• Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia School of Arts and Sciences

Highlighted Publications:

• Seismological expression of the iron spin crossover in ferropericlase in the Earth’s lower mantle. Nature Communications (2021)
• QUANTUM ESPRESSO: a modular and open-source software project for quantum simulations of materials. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter (2009)

Tanya Zelevinsky 

Research Focus: Fundamental science with ultracold molecules, atomic and molecular clocks, and precision measurements in molecular physics and quantum chemistry.

Current Positions:

• Professor of Physics, Columbia School of Arts and Sciences
• Columbia Quantum Initiative Task Force Member

Highlighted Publications:

• Photodissociation of ultracold diatomic strontium molecules with quantum state control. Nature (2016)
• Molecular lattice clock with long vibrational coherence. Nature Physics (2019)