Peter Abbamonte

Peter Abbamonte is the Fox Family Professor of Engineering in the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and an affiliate of the Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from UIUC (1999), with postdoctoral stints at the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and Cornell University. Prior to UIUC, he was a scientific staff member at Brookhaven National Laboratory (2003–2005). His research focuses on experimental condensed matter physics, particularly developing novel scattering techniques and studying quantum materials.

His key contributions include pioneering resonant soft X-ray scattering (discovering Wigner crystals and charge stripes in cuprates), solving the phase problem for inelastic X-ray scattering, and inventing the momentum-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy (M-EELS). He is renowned for discovering excitonium in TiSe₂ and founding Inprentus, a company manufacturing high-precision XUV diffraction gratings.

Research interests span charge density waves, superconductivity, broken symmetries, and collective phenomena in quantum materials. His work integrates cutting-edge experimental techniques with theoretical insights, often revealing hidden phases and dynamic processes. Major honors include the Moore Foundation EPiQS Investigator award and Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Inprentus, his startup, produces diffraction gratings for synchrotrons and EUV lithography, supported by NSF Phase II SBIR and venture capital. Abbamonte’s teaching excellence is reflected in repeated rankings as an outstanding instructor at UIUC.