Amir Yacoby named AAAS Fellow

Cambridge, Mass. – November 24, 2014 – Amir Yacoby, Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics at Harvard University, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

An experimental condensed matter physicist, Yacoby holds appointments in the Physics Department and in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). He was cited for “groundbreaking contributions to nanoscience and nanotechnology, including the experimental realization of quantum information processing devices in semiconductors.” He is one of 401 members to be awarded this honor by AAAS in 2014 (including several others at Harvard) and will be formally recognized on February 14 during the AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, California.

At Harvard, Yacoby’s research focuses on unraveling the underlying phenomena governing low-dimensional systems. In two-dimensional electron systems, his group uses novel scan probe techniques that are capable of detecting electric charge with a resolution of 10^–4 of one electron and spatial resolution of 100 nanometers. This technique enables them to image the distribution of electrons and the way they localize in space in various material systems such as gallium arsenide or single monolayers of graphite as well as under various ground state conditions such as the integer and fractional quantum Hall effect.

Yacoby's group also explores one-dimensional systems, where electrical conduction is strongly governed by the interaction between electrons; and zero-dimensional systems like quantum dots, studying how quantum information can be stored and manipulated using the spin of individual electrons.

Additionally, Yacoby is a participant in the Center for Integrated Quantum Materials, a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center, based at Harvard and dedicated to studying new quantum materials with "non-conventional" properties that could transform signal processing and computation.

The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if nominated by the steering groups of the Association’s 24 sections. Each steering group reviews the nominations of individuals within its respective section and a final list is forwarded to the AAAS Council, which votes on the aggregate list.