D.N. Basov

Dmitri N. Basov is a Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he has held this position since 2001. He received his Ph.D. from the Lebedev Physics Institute in 1991 and conducted postdoctoral research at McMaster University (1992–1996) before joining Brookhaven National Laboratory as an Assistant Physicist (1996). His research focuses on electronic and magnetic properties of novel quantum materials, particularly graphene, topological insulators, and van der Waals crystals. His work combines advanced spectroscopic techniques with nanoscale imaging to study plasmons, polaritons, and ultrafast dynamics.

Key research interests include nanophotonics, quantum materials, and the interplay of light and matter at the nanoscale. Basov pioneered techniques like infrared pump-probe nanoscopy, enabling ultrafast and nanoscale studies of plasmonic phenomena in graphene and other 2D materials. His group has published extensively on topics such as tunable hyperbolic metamaterials, Dirac plasmons, and electronic boundary effects in layered systems.

Basov has received numerous awards, including the NSF Career Award (1998), Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (1997), Humboldt Research Award (2009), and the Frank Isakson Prize (2012). He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a Gordon and Betty Moore Investigator in Quantum Materials.

His research has led to groundbreaking insights into graphene’s electronic properties, topological insulators, and the design of novel optical metamaterials. Current projects explore nanoscale spectroscopy of extraterrestrial samples and ultrafast dynamics in quantum materials.