Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Office: 237B Hildebrand Hall
Phone: (510) 697-2342
Email: mwz@berkeley.edu
Administrative Assistant: Leslie S. Dietterick (ldietterick@berkeley.edu)
Research Interests
Prof. Zuerch and his team experimentally explore structural, carrier and spin dynamics in novel quantum materials, heterostructures and on surfaces and at interfaces to answer current questions in materials science and physical chemistry. In his research he pursues a multidisciplinary research program that combines the exquisite possibilities that ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy and nanoimaging offers and closely interface with material synthesis and theory groups. He employs state-of-the-art methods and develops novel nonlinear X-ray spectroscopies in the lab and at large-scale facilities. In his research he is specifically interested in experimentally studying and controlling material properties on time scales down to the sub-femtosecond regime and on nanometer length scales to tackle challenging problems in quantum electronics, information storage and solar energy conversion.
Biography
- Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley (since 2019) and Faculty Scientist in the Materials Sciences Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (since 2020)
- Max Planck Research Group Leader (W2), Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (2018-2019)
- Independent Junior Research Group Leader, FSU Jena (2018)
- Post-doc UC Berkeley, College of Chemistry (2015-2017)
- Ph.D. in Physics, FSU Jena (2014)
- Diploma in Physics, FSU Jena (2010)
- Awards: W. M. Keck Foundation Science and Engineering Research Award (2020), Fresnel Prize by European Physical Society (2021), Hellman Fellow (2021), DOE Early Career Award (2023)