Sohrab Ismail-Beigi

Sohrab Ismail-Beigi's picture
Strathcona Professor of Applied Physics; Chair of Applied Physics
BCT 307
+1 (203) 432-2107
sohrab.ismail-beigi@yale.edu
Research Website
CV
Research Areas: 
Condensed Matter Physics
Research Type: 
Theorist
Current Projects: 
We study the physics of condensed matter systems, usually the solid state, using first principles or ab initio methods. We solve the quantum mechanical many-body problem of interacting electrons and ions to the best of our abilities, with the fewest approximations possible, and with no adjustable parameters or fitting. The cost is that the calculations must be done numerically and can be quite difficult to perform. The advantage is that the results are generally reliable and accurate, and hence can be compared with confidence to experimental findings to help understand, clarify, and even predict observed physical phenomena.
 
Research: 

Our group uses first principles computational methods to attack topical and fundamental questions in condensed matter theory and materials physics/chemistry. Present topics of interest include:

  • Transition metal oxide interfaces and surfaces: electronic and atomic reconstructions, orbital control, novel electronic phases, design principles, electronic correlations, switchable properties, catalysis
  • Semiconductor-oxide interfaces: growth strategies and resulting structures, electronic/chemical/mechanical properties, engineering interfaces for desired technological applications
  • Electronic, mechanical, and structural properties of nanomaterials: nanotubes, nanowires, 2D systems, and clusters
  • Slave-boson methods for complex oxides and approximate solution of extended Hubbard models
  • Many-body Green’s function methods for describing exchange and correlation
  • Software development for massively parallel GW calculations 

You can find more details of our research group regarding research activities, publications, group members, and recent news by visiting the Ismail-Beigi research group website.

Education: 
Ph.D., M.I.T., 2000
Selected Publications: 

  • A. Malashevich, S. Ismail-Beigi, and E. I. Altman, “Directing the Structure of Two-Dimensional Silica and Silicates,” Journal of Physical Chemistry C 120, no. 47, pp. 26770-26781 (2016). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b07008

  • Arvin Kakekhani and Sohrab Ismail-Beigi, “Ferroelectric oxide surface chemistry: water splitting via pyroelectricity”, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 4, 5235 (2016). DOI 10.1039/C6TA00513F

  • A. S. Disa, D. P. Kumah, A. Malashevich, H. Chen, D. A. Arena, E. D. Specht, S. Ismail-Beigi, F. J. Walker, and C. H. Ahn, “Orbital Engineering in Symmetry-Breaking Polar Heterostructures”, Physical Review Letters 114, 026801 (2015).

  • Alexandru B. Georgescu and Sohrab Ismail-Beigi, “Generalized slave-particle method for extended Hubbard models”, Physical Review B 92, 235117 (2015). DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.92.235117.

  • Xiaokai Li, Louise M. Guard, Jie Jiang, Kelsey Sakimoto, Jing-Shun Huang, Jianguo Wu, Jinyang Li, Lianqing Yu, Ravi Pokhrel, Gary W. Brudvig, Sohrab Ismail-Beigi, Nilay Hazari, and Andre D. Taylor, “Controlled Doping of Carbon Nanotubes with Metallocenes for Application in Hybrid Carbon Nanotube/Si Solar Cells”, Nano Letters 14, 3388 (2014).

  • H. Chen and S. Ismail-Beigi, “Ferroelectric control of magnetization in La1−xSrxMnO3 manganites: A first-principles study”, Physical Review B 86, 024433 (2012).

  • H. Tang and S. Ismail-Beigi, “Novel Precursors for Boron Nanotubes: The Competition of Two-Center and Three-Center Bonding in Boron Sheets”, Physical Review Letters 99, 115501 (2007).

  • S. Ismail-Beigi and S. G. Louie, “Self-trapped Excitons in Silicon Dioxide: Mechanisms and Properties”, Physical Review Letters 95, 156401 (2005).

Patents: 
  • A. M. Kolpak, F. J. Walker, J. W. Reiner, C. H. Ahn, and S. Ismail-Beigi, “Ferroelectric Devices including a Layer having Two or More Stable Configurations”, US Patent App. No.: PCT/US2010/002642 (2010).