Conférence du vendredi 23 janvier 2026

Scanning Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: A Quantum Magnifying Glass for Materials - Madisen Holbrook (UdeM)

A central question of modern condensed matter physics is how the properties of materials emerge from the arrangement of atoms. The challenge is to connect local atomic structure to macroscopic electronic behavior, such as how materials conduct electricity, emit light, or exhibit new quantum phenomena. In this talk, I will introduce scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), a technique that utilizes quantum tunneling to map electronic properties with atomic resolution, providing a magnifying glass to directly visualize materials. I will explain why low-dimensional materials, particularly two-dimensional materials, have become an exciting playground for quantum physics. In these systems, electrons are confined to a plane, and because the surface effectively is the material, STM is especially well suited for studying their electronic properties. In the final part of the talk, I will show how STM is used to study atomic-scale defects in two-dimensional materials. While defects are often viewed as imperfections, they can instead serve as sensitive probes of a material’s underlying quantum structure, revealing electronic features that are otherwise hidden. Understanding how atomic-scale structure shapes electronic behavior provides a pathway toward discovering new quantum phases of matter and designing future materials one atom at a time.

Madisen Holbrook received her BA in Physics from Lewis & Clark College and her PhD in Condensed Matter Physics from the University of Texas at Austin, where she worked in the Shih Lab on the synthesis and atomic-scale characterization of two-dimensional materials using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). She was subsequently a postdoctoral research fellow in the MRSEC at Columbia University, where she continued her STM studies of quantum materials. Madisen has recently joined the Department of Physics and the Institut Courtois at the Université de Montréal, where her research exploring quantum materials at the atomic scale using STM. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, knitting and other crafts, walking her dog Bijou, and learning French.