Russ Giannetta

For More Information

• Research Activities

Education

• Ph.D., Physics, Cornell University, 1980

Biography

Professor Giannetta received his PhD in physics from Cornell University. He was a postdoctoral member of staff at Bell Telephone Laboratories and taught at Princeton University and the City College of New York before coming to the University of Illinois in 1993. He is a condensed matter experimentalist whose research has included superfluidity in liquid 3He, two-dimensional electron plasmas and Wigner crystals and electronic transport in semiconductor nanostructures. For the past two decades his focus has been superconductivity. His group developed high precision radio frequency techniques to measure the London penetration depth. This work has led to a better understanding of vortex motion and the pairing state in copper oxide, organic and iron-based superconductors. In recent year he collaborated with Prof. C.P. Slichter on studies of organic superconductors using nuclear magnetic resonance.

Research Statement

I no longer run a conventional research group but now focus entirely on undergraduate research projects.    My areas of interest include nuclear magnetic resonance and the associated electronic instrumentation.   The magnetic resonance experiments will require familiarity with quantum mechanics or a willingness to learn.  Projects typically involve the fabrication and testing of circuit boards, radio frequency circuits and 3D printed probes.  While no prior knowledge of electronics is required, students should be motivated to learn the basics of circuit analysis using complex numbers, transmission lines and signal to noise enhancement.  Students will be expected to program a variety of lab instruments using LabView, Matlab or whatever language is most appropriate for the task.  Recent projects include the construction of proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer for the physics 403 lab, a spectrometer to study nuclear quadrupole resonance in a variety of materials, design and operation of a proportional-integral-derivative feedback temperature controller and the fabrication of electrically programmable radio frequency resonant circuits.  

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Undergraduates are involved in a number of projects pertaining to superconductivity, penetration depth and nuclear magnetic resonance.  Since coming to UIUC I have advised 47 undergraduate research assistants.

Selected Articles in Journals

• J. Gezo, Tak-Kei Lui, B. Wolin, J.A. Schlueter, C.P. Slichter, R.W. Giannetta, J. A. Schlueter. Stretched exponential spin relaxation in organic superconductors. Phys. Rev. B 88, 140504(R) (2013).
• N. W. Salovich, H. Kim, A. K. Ghosh, R.W. Giannetta, W. Kwok, U. Welp, B. Shen, S. Zhu, H.-H. Wen, M. A. Tanatar, R. Prozorov. Effect of Heavy-Ion Irradiation on Superconductivity in Ba_0.6K_0.4Fe₂As₂, Phys. Rev. B 87, 180502(R) (2013)
• K. Hashimoto, K. Cho, T. Shibauchi, S. Kasahara, Y. Mizumaki, R. Katsumata, T. Terashima, H. Ikeda, M.A. Tanatar, H. Kitano, N. Salovich, R.W. Giannetta, P. Walmsley, A. Carrington, R. Prozorov, Y. Matsuda. A sharp peak of the zero-temperature penetration depth at optimal composition in the iron-based superconductor BaFe₂(As_1-xP_x)₂. Science 336, 1554-1557 (2012)
• R. Prozorov and R.W. Giannetta. Magnetic penetration depth in unconventional superconductors. Review article for Superconductor Science and and Technology 19, R41-R67 (2006)

Honors

• American Physical Society Fellow (2007)

Research Honors

• Xerox Faculty Research Award, 2003

Recent Courses Taught

• PHYS 404 - Electronic Circuits
• PHYS 525 - Survey Fund Device Physics