Samuel Teitelbaum

Samuel Teitelbaum is interested in developing novel experimental methods to reveal how crystals transform, exchange energy between different degrees of freedom, and how to control their properties with light. He uses a combination of femtosecond lasers and femtosecond x-ray sources, which allows observation of the real-time motion of electrons and atoms on their fundamental timescales. By illuminating crystals with radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, researchers can direct energy into specific motions of electrons or ions in the crystal, and then either watch as those excitations couple throughout the crystal or use the excitation to access otherwise "hidden" orders in the crystal.

Teitelbaum is particularly interested in investigating the role disorder and spontaneous fluctuations play in material properties and energy transfer. Some properties, such as thermal conductivity, cannot be described at all without including the role of atomic fluctuations. Advances in the brightness of hard x-ray sources allows the tracking of disordered fluctuations on ever-faster timescales.