Alexander Mark
Graduate Student, Department of Physics
About Heading link
About
My research interests involve the electronic and structural properties of high temperature cuprate superconductors under extreme conditions, particularly the bismuth based family of cuprates.
I use various experimental techniques in order to probe these systems, including synchrotron radiation, Raman spectroscopy, and electronic transport measurements
In addition to my research I am involved in the construction of various synthesis and analytic machines in the lab such as sputtering machines, gloveboxes, and diamond anvil cells.
Education
- M.S. Physics, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2019
- B.S. Physics with minor in mathematics, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2016
- B.S. Electrical Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2016
CDAC Project Heading link
Currently I am working with Professors Hemley and Campuzano analyzing the structural and electronic properties of unconventional high temperature cuprate superconductors (HTSCs) under extreme pressures. We are particularly interested in the physical and electronic structure of these materials at pressures greater than one megabar.
Unexpectedly, the superconducting transition temperature in these systems dramatically increases under pressure. Our goal is to extend high pressure measurements of unconventional superconductors to pressures greater than one megabar in order to understand the microscopic mechanism behind this unexpected phenomena.
We have chosen to work with the bismuth based cuprate superconductor (BSCCO) as a representative system for our experiments. BSCCO is well characterized at ambient pressure, allowing us to correlate our extreme pressure measurements with ambient pressure probes.
