Research Areas

Basic and applied research in Solid-state and Materials Physics at the University of South Florida aims to improve the understanding of physical phenomena and to develop advanced materials and processes for technologically significant applications. The range of topical areas of interest include carbon nanotubes, heterostructures, magnetic semiconductors, magnetic nanostructures, multiferroics, nanocomposites, novel semiconductors and intermetallics, quasicrystals, quantum dots, oxides, organic electronic materials, energetic materials, polymers, and colloids. Growth capabilities include a variety of physical techniques such as high-temperature and thermal decomposition for single-crystal and bulk polycrystalline materials; RF magnetron sputtering as well as laser, plasma and microwave methods for the fabrication of thin-film and quantum-dot structures; and chemical techniques for nanomaterials synthesis. A broad range of physical-properties-measurement capabilities over a wide temperature range together with theory and computational modeling at the electronic, atomistic, and coarse-grained levels are employed in investigating biomaterials, soft materials such as polymers, coatings, molecular electronics, spintronics, multifunctional electronic devices, and power-conversion technologies. Access to a four-thousand-CPU cluster is available for computational modeling of materials. Strong links with major national and international facilities are typical in this interdisciplinary research program. Research projects are funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Army Research Office, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the ACS Petroleum Research Fund, the Office of Naval Research, and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

Faculty Members

• Arena, Dario - Associate Professor
• Batzill, Matthias - Professor
• Gutierrez, Humberto Rodriguez - Assistant Professor
• Hoy, Robert - Associate Professor
• Jiang, Xiaomei - Associate Professor
• Karaiskaj, Denis - Associate Professor
• Lisenkov, Sergey - Research Assistant Professor
• Mukherjee, Pritish - Professor
• Muller, Andreas - Associate Professor
• Nolas, George - Distinguished University Professor, Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science, Fellow of the American Physical Society
• Oleynik, Ivan - Professor, Fellow of the American Physical Society, Fellow of the American Vacuum Society, Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science
• Phan, Manh-Huong - Research Professor
• Ponomareva, Inna - Professor and Director of Graduate Admissions
• Rabson, David - Associate Professor
• Srikanth, Hariharan - Distinguished University Professor, Fellow of American Physical Society
• Witanachchi, Sarath - Professor and Chair
• Woods, Lilia - Professor and Associate Chair, Fellow of the American Physical Society, Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science

Atomic, molecular and optical physics is pursued within the Department of Physics and covers a wide range of theoretical and experimental research in low energy studies of atomic and molecular materials often using laser, optical, phonon, and electrical excitation and subsequent spectroscopic analysis of the resultant response. Faculty research includes optical induced energy transfer in surface plasmas and nanoparticles, unique optical wavelength processing in digital holography, solid state laser spectroscopy, optical nonlinear optics, laser remote sensing of the atmosphere, laser detection of organics in water, laser ablation in thin film deposition and optical process diagnostics, nanostructures for opto-electronics, laser assisted fiber optic crystal growth, and high-resolution molecular optical absorption research for laser sensor applications. Theory and computational analysis are also conducted to complement the experimental research, including development of computer codes to model laser transmission through the atmosphere, and computational algorithms to model the deconvolution of a multi-wavelength digital hologram for 3-D bio-image reconstruction.

Faculty Members

• Jiang, Xiaomei - Associate Professor
• Karaiskaj, Denis - Associate Professor
• Killinger, Dennis - Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Fellow of Optical Society of America
• Kim, Myung - Professor, Fellow of Optical Society of America
• Mukherjee, Pritish - Professor
• Muller, Andreas - Associate Professor
• Muschol, Martin - Associate Professor and Graduate Director
• Nolas, George - Distinguished University Professor, Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science, Fellow of the American Physical Society
• Zhou, Jiangfeng - Associate Professor 

 The faculty of the Biophysics & Biomedical Physics cluster in our department is engaged in a wide range of basic and applied research projects. Research interests include the molecular organization of collagen, lipid rafts in biological membranes, the formation of Alzheimer plaques, the role of cellular ion pumps in wound healing, carbon nanotubes as biological detectors, optical imaging of neuronal activity, three-dimensional imaging of intact tissues, motility of cancer cells, and the optical detection of pathogens in water. The theoretical and experimental tools we bring to bear on these problems include molecular dynamics simulations, atomic force microscopy, cellular impedance measurements, dynamic light scattering, confocal microscopy, spectroscopy, electrophysiology and optical holography. Please contact individual faculty members for more details about ongoing research projects.

 Faculty Members

• Chen, Wei - Professor
• Killinger, Dennis - Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Fellow of Optical Society of America
• Kim, Myung - Professor, Fellow of Optical Society of America
• Matthews, Garrett - Associate Professor
• Muschol, Martin - Associate Professor and Graduate Director
• Pan, Jianjun - Associate Professor
• Pandit, Sagar - Associate Professor
• Rabson, David - Associate Professor
• Ullah, Ghanim - Associate Professor

The physics department at the University of South Florida is committed to all aspects of undergraduate education. Faculty members are actively involved in implementing many results from physics education research in order to further enhance the experience of our undergraduate students. Currently, attention is given to the experiences of both physics majors and non-majors, with focus on curriculum and pedagogical improvements. Most recently, new undergraduate introductory laboratory manuals were written that employ techniques from inquiry-based physics. Additionally, the upper level laboratories for undergraduate physics majors are also being reworked to better prepare our student to enter a modern research lab setting. Other examples of present interests include implementing the peer instruction method in our large lectures, developing assessment techniques, and investigating the effectiveness of different online homework systems. In the future, it is expected that our interests will continue to expand in order to include research that actively investigates current questions in the field of physics education research.

Faculty Members

• Criss, Robert - Instructor and Undergraduate Program Coordinator
• Mackay, Kevin - Instructor
• McCormick, Alexander - Instructor
• Pradhan, Gauri - Instructor
• Woods, Gerald - Instructor & General Physics Lab Director

Medical Physics is a medical specialty that applies physics principles to ensure that diagnostic and therapeutic procedures prescribed by physicians are delivered accurately and safely. In order to practice clinically, Medical Physicists are required to pass a rigorous set of examinations administered by the American Board of Radiology after completing a two-year clinical residency. Radiation Oncology, Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine are highly technologically advanced medical fields and thus require a highly skilled professional and technical team to ensure optimal patient care. The Medical Physics Group provides clinical physics and dosimetry services at the main Moffitt Cancer Center (MCC) campus, the Moffitt International Plaza (MIP) and the Moffitt Radiotherapy Clinic at the Villages. It currently consists of 15 physicists and 10 dosimetrists. Program faculty from MCC also includes non-physicists from various clinical and research departments. A comprehensive set of state-of-the-art technologies are supported including three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), tumor motion management (4D imaging, planning and delivery; respiratory gating), total-body irradiation (TBI), total skin electron therapy (TSET), high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy, prostate seed implants, and intraoperative radiotherapy for breast cancer. The Department of Diagnostic Imaging provides opportunities in medical imaging (CT, MRI, PET, SPECT, etc.) and the Department of Cancer Imaging and Metabolism offers a comprehensive set of pre-clinical imaging technologies (microCT, microPET, microMR, etc.), including molecular imaging, and research lanoratories. In addition to clinical services, medical physicists are engaged in research and teaching activities.

General description of what Medical Physicists do

Faculty Members

• Feygelman, Vladimir - Courtesy Faculty
• Moros, Eduardo - Senior Member / Professor
• Zhang, Geoffrey - Associate Professor

Affiliated Faculty

• Gillies, Robert - Affiliated Faculty
• Martinez, Gary - Affiliated Faculty
• Saini, Amarjit - Affiliated Faculty
• Javedan, Khosrow - Affiliated Faculty
• Morse, David - Affiliated Faculty

The research of this group focuses on astrophysics and planetary science projects. They perform spectroscopy, interferometry, and imaging at optical, infrared, and millimeter wavelength telescopes and collaborate with leading atmospheric theorists. Research projects are funded by the National Science Foundation.

Faculty Members

• Killinger, Dennis - Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, Fellow of Optical Society of America
• Kim, Myung - Professor, Fellow of Optical Society of America
• Mackay, Kevin - Instructor
• McCormick, Alexander - Instructor
• Richards, David - Affiliated Faculty