Staff Scientist, Imaging and Manipulation of Nanostructures
astibor@lbl.gov
510.486.4910
Biography
Dr. Alexander Stibor obtained his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Vienna, Austria, under the supervision of Prof. Markus Arndt and Prof. Anton Zeilinger, focusing on molecular interferometry. During his postdoctoral tenure at the University of Tübingen, Germany, he investigated ultracold quantum gases on atom chips. He was awarded the Emmy Noether early career grant from the German Research Foundation, which enabled him to establish his own research group at the University of Tübingen. His group primarily investigated the coherence and decoherence of charged particles, encompassing interferometry, electron beam sources, and applications in sensor technology. Additionally, Dr. Stibor lectured on laser physics and quantum optics and supervised Ph.D., master’s, and bachelor’s students. Transitioning to the United States, he served as a Visiting Scholar and Consultant at Stanford University, where he developed laser-pulsed nanotip beam sources. Subsequently, he held the position of Physicist Project Scientist at the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, where he conducted research and industry collaboration (SBIR) projects. These activities were dedicated to advancing correlated electron beam sources for Quantum Information Science, electron microscopy, and spectroscopy. After this assignment, Dr. Stibor transitioned to the industry, serving as the Research Program Director at Electron Optica Inc., a Silicon Valley company, where he focused on the development of innovative electron optical tools. Currently, he holds the position of Staff Scientist in Quantum Instrumentation at the Molecular Foundry. Dr. Stibor was twice honored with an R&D 100 Award for his contributions: first for the development of a novel secure data transmission method and later for a superconducting electron field emitter.
Research Interests
My research group is dedicated to harnessing the intrinsic quantum properties of free electrons, such as wave coherence, spin polarization, and non-classical correlations. We aim to drive advancements in electron microscopy and spectroscopy, paving the way for innovative applications in surface science, quantum information science, and quantum instrumentation. This involves investigating the composition, phase transitions, and dynamic transport phenomena crucial for understanding advanced heterogeneous quantum materials. We explore magnetic surfaces at the nanometer level and aim to investigate the dynamics of electronic spin states at their native time and length scales. To achieve this, we are developing an ultrashort pulsed spin-polarized electron beam source. Another research focus lies in free-electron quantum optics, which includes generating correlated electron pairs from superconducting nanotips and studying Coulomb-induced decoherence. Our research is supported by two major user instrumentations: the low-temperature Quantum Spin-Polarized Low-Energy Electron Microscope (QSPLEEM) and the Field Emitter Characterization Setup. These instruments enable us to address fundamental scientific questions in surface magnetometry, the spin-dependent band structure of quantum materials at cryogenic temperatures, and superconductivity in confined geometries.
