Department of Physics organizes a seminar on Modern Condensed Matter Physics using Indigenous Instrumentation

I will take the audience through a fascinating journey which saw my team developing Scanning Probe Microscopes, Physical Properties Measurement Systems and Chemical Vapor Deposition Systems all the way out to internationally competitive standards. I will then describe how these instruments have opened out a completely novel and innovative approach to teaching and carrying out research in the fields of material science,condensed matter physics and nano-technology.

Dr. Sahdev trained, as a particle theorist, in leading groups at Cornell University, Univ. of Pennsylvania, and the International Center for Theoretical Physics (Italy) among others. While at these centers, he worked and interacted with several Nobel laureates including Prof Salam, Ken Wilson, Steven Weinberg and Richard Feynman.

He then joined IIT Kanpur, where over two decades of innovative teaching, he turned out some of the best physicists of the country. Many of his students have, by now, received the Bhatnagar, Infosys and other prizes.

Prof. Sahdev has contributed to several branches of physics: He was a co-discoverer of radiation zeroes and of their use in determining the anomalous magnetic moment of the W-boson. He is one of the original pioneers of the field of higher-dimensional cosmologies. He has worked on the non-linear dynamics of Josephson-Junction arrays and has developed several algorithms for simulating them.

Furthermore, he has made considerable progress in achieving the integration of theory, computation, experiment and instrumentation at QuazarTech --- a Research Lab, Educational Center and Company, all merged into a single entity --- which he set up. In particular, he and his group have developed several Scanning Probe Microscopes, Physical Properties Measurement, Chemical Vapor Deposition and Data-acquisition Systems, and used them not only for their own research and teaching, but also to facilitate teaching and research across the entire country.

Prof Sahdev is currently part of the Expert Advisory Group of the Instrumentation/Device Development Program of the Department of Science. and a Former Member of the Technology Development Board of the Government of India.