Cornell University

Graduate School

Graduate SchoolFields of Study

Applied Physics

Field Description

Graduate study in the field offers the opportunity to achieve proficiency in physics, mathematics, and applied science. Applied physics is particularly suitable for students preparing for a scientific career in an area of applied science based on principles and techniques of physics.

A student may choose for specialization and thesis or dissertation research any subject compatible with an approach based on the application of principles of physics and mathematics. Current areas of advanced study and research include applied theoretical physics, biophysics, chemical physics, physics of fluids, nuclear and reactor physics, optics, laser physics, plasma physics, solid-state physics, nano-science, and space physics.
 
The Ph.D. program in the graduate field of Applied Physics (AP) is a research-oriented doctoral program tailored to individual interests. It combines a core physics curriculum with research and study in one of several areas that deal either with the application of physics to a technical discipline or with the interface between physics and another area of science. After two semesters of graduate study, students in the Ph.D. program take a written qualifying examination covering the core subjects. This exam is in addition to those required by the Graduate School.

A professional program leading to the degree of Master of Engineering (Engineering Physics) offers students the opportunity to master advanced topics in physics and extend their skills in their chosen engineering specialties. 

Contact Information

Website: http://www.aep.cornell.edu
Email: aep_info@cornell.edu
Phone: 607 255-0638

261 Clark Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-2501

 

Data and Statistics

Subject and Degrees

Applied Physics

Engineering Physics

Concentrations by Subject

Applied Physics

  • applied physics

Engineering Physics

  • engineering physics

Faculty

Joel Donald Brock

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: x-ray diffraction; synchrotron radiation; charged density waves; thin film growth and surface processing

Robert Alan Buhrman

  • Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: physics of nanoscale structures and devices; superconducting, magnetic, and semiconductor thin film materials; scanned probe studies of electronic systems; lithography

Itai Cohen

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: complex matter physics with focus on colloidal suspensions; biological tissues; fluid-membrane interfaces

Harold Gene Craighead

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: nanofabrication; physics of ultrasmall devices and structures; biological nanostructures

David Erickson

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: microfluidics and nanofluidics as applied to optofluidics; biomolecular detection; biologicallly enabled robotics; nanomedicine; programmable matter; fluid and thermal dynamics; nanophotonics; nanofabrication; chemistry and biology

Craig J. Fennie

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: applied physics

Gregory Fuchs

  • Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: understanding controlling spin in solid state physics

Emmanuel P Giannelis

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: hybrid nanomaterials for energy, biomedical, transportation and packaging

David A Hammer

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: plasma physics; fusion; gas discharges; high-energy-density plasmas

Melissa A Hines

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: surface physics and chemistry

Debdeep Jena

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics

Lena F. Kourkoutis

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: Nanostructured material, Biophysics, Condensed matter and Materials Physics, Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopy, Renewable energy materials

Bruce Raymond Kusse

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: high-energy density plasma physics

Amit Lal

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: micro/nano-electromechanical systems; physical acoustics; ultrasonic engineering; biomedical MEMS; microfluidics; analog and digital circuit design; solid-state electronics; radioactive thin films for autonomous microsystems and nanofabrication

Guillaume Lambert

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics

Richard V Lovelace

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: plasma physics theory; astrophysics

Kin Fai Mak

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics; Engineering Physics: engineering physics

Paul L. McEuen

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: the science and technology of nanostructures; novel fabrication techniques at the nanometer scale; scanned probe microscopy of nanostructures; assembly and measurement of chemical and biological nanostructures

Peter McMahon

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics; Engineering Physics: engineering physics

Jeffrey Andrew Moses

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics; Engineering Physics: engineering physics
  • Research Interests: Ultrafast laser spectroscopy and technology, Physical chemistry, Biophysics, Ultrafast dynamics in condensed matter, materials and nanostructures, Nonlinear optics

David A. Muller

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: structure and properties of nanoscale materials; atomically-engineered materials for energy applications; atomic resolution electron spectroscopy and microscopy

Lois Pollack

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: biophysics; RNA folding; electrolstatics and DNA; protein conformational dynamics

Clifford Raymond Pollock

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: lasers; fiberoptics; quantum electronics

Daniel C Ralph

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: nanoelectronics and magnetics

Richard D. Robinson

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: physics and chemistry of low-dimensional materials and to produce a variety of nano-materials targeted for energy applications

Chris B. Schaffer

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: focuses on the use of nonlinear interactions between femto-second-duration laster pulses and biological materials

Darrell G. Schlom

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: heteroepitaxial growth and characterization of oxide thin films; preparation of oxide superlattices and metastable phases by reactive molecular-beam epitaxy

Charles Eugene Seyler

  • Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: computational studies of the dynamics of high energy density plasmas such as those produced in pulsed power experiments at Cornell (COBRA), which are capable of producing intense bursts of x-rays; theory and simulation of upper atmospheric, ionospheric, and magnetospheric process of Earth solar-terrestrial environment

Jie Shan

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics

Gennady Shvets

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics

Michael Olgar Thompson

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: ultralow temperature processing of silicon; point defect and impurity diffusion in Si; rapid phase transformations

Sandip Tiwari

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: electronic and optoelectronic devices at small dimensions; nano- and quantum structures; three-dimensional integration

Robert Bruce van Dover

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: growth and properties of magnetic, dielectric, superconducting and optical think films; fabrication and characterization of thin film devices; properties of magnetic and superconducting ceramics; development and use of high throughput synthesis/evaluation experimental strategies

Zheng Jane Wang

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: insect flight as a model system to study the role of aerodynamics on the evolution of flapping flight in nature

Michelle D Wang

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics

Frank William Wise

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: semiconductor nanocrystals, with applications to solar energy; spatio-temporal aspects of nonlinear optical waves; development of fiber lasers that generate ultrashort optical pulses, with applications to bioimaging

Chunhui (Chris) Xu

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: biomedical imaging; optical instrumentation; optical communications

Warren R. Zipfel

  • Campus: Ithaca
  • Concentrations: Applied Physics: applied physics
  • Research Interests: biomedical imaging and instrumentation