Joseph Checkelsky

Joseph Checkelsky is a Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), holding the Mitsui Career Development Professorship and serving as Undergraduate Program Coordinator. His research is conducted through the Checkelsky Lab with affiliations spanning the Condensed Matter Experiment Group (CMX), MIT Materials Research Laboratory, and Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE).

His educational trajectory includes a B.S. in Physics from Harvey Mudd College (2004) and a Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University (2010), followed by postdoctoral work at RIKEN in Japan and a lectureship at the University of Tokyo prior to joining MIT in 2014.

Checkelsky's research centers on exotic electronic states of matter through quantum material synthesis, measurement, and control. His lab investigates correlated behavior in topologically non-trivial materials, geometrical phases in electronic systems, and novel geometric frustration phenomena. The experimental methodology integrates solid-state physics, chemistry, and nanoscience, employing transport/thermodynamic measurements, bulk crystal/thin-film growth, and nanoscale device fabrication to probe quantum mechanical condensed matter systems.

Publication analysis reveals dominant themes in topological materials (kagome metals, pyrochlore structures), quantum electronic phases (striped phases, flat bands), and superconductivity (2D systems, finite-momentum states), with increasing emphasis on 3D quantum phenomena and device-oriented material engineering since 2020.

Major recognitions include:

• American Physical Society Fellowship (2024)
• Mitsui Career Development Professorship (2020-2023)
• Moore EPiQS Materials Synthesis Investigator (2019)
• Presidential Early Career Award (PECASE, 2019)
• Army Early Career Award (ECASE, 2019)
• NSF CAREER Award (2015)
• Bose Research Fellowship (2015)
• Moore EPiQS Fellowship (2014)

The Checkelsky Lab maintains active collaborations across MIT's materials research ecosystem, focusing on generating fundamental quantum phenomena with potential applications in next-generation electronics and quantum technologies through tight integration of synthesis, characterization, and theoretical modeling.