User:J. Berndorff/Martino Poggio

Martino Poggio (born 5 March, 1978, in Tübingen) is an Italian-American nanophysicist who has been Professor of Physics at the University of Basel (Switzerland) since 2009 and Director of the Swiss Nanoscience Institute at the University of Basel since August 2022. In addition, he was head of the Department of Physics at the University of Basel from September 2019 to August 2021 and then deputy head until August 2023. From 2020 to 2022, Poggio also served as Co-Director of the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) QSIT.

Life
Martino Poggio, whose parents are from Italy, has both Italian and American citizenship. He received his bachelor’s in physics from Harvard University in the USA in 2000 and his PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2005. During his studies, he worked for David Awschalom in the field of ultrafast optics and semiconductor spintronics, completing his dissertation on the topic of “Spin Interactions Between Conduction Electrons and Local Moments in Semiconductor Quantum Wells.”

After receiving his doctorate, he began work as a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Probing the Nanoscale, a joint research center of Stanford University and IBM. Until the end of 2008, he worked on high-sensitivity magnetic resonance force microscopy in Dan Rugar’s laboratory at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, and he was appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Basel in summer of that year. Awarded an ERC Starting Grant in 2013, he was promoted by the university to Associate Professor in 2014 and Full Professor in 2020. Along with Roderick Lim, Poggio is one of two “Argovia” professors of nanosciences at the University of Basel, who are funded by the Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI). Since August 2022, Poggio has led the SNI as its director.

Work
Poggio works primarily in the area of nanomechanics and its applications in sensor technology. In this context, nanomechanical sensors are used to take highly sensitive measurements of force, spin and charges on matter. The mechanical “top-down” devices that are traditionally found in the semiconductor industry are now joined by a new class of self-assembled “bottom-up” structures that offer huge potential for improving sensitivity. This new approach in mechanical sensor technology could pave the way for scientific breakthroughs in many areas.

Poggio also carries out research in the field of nanomagnetism. In this context, the team at the Poggio Lab develops magnetometers that are capable of measuring the magnetization or stray fields produced by individual magnets on the nanoscale. The underlying goal is to study the magnetism of low-dimensional systems and gain a better understanding of their magnetic configurations — configurations that are often impossible with macroscopic magnets.

Awards

 * 2013: European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant
 * 2010: Cozzarelli Prize for an outstanding PNAS publication

Selected publications
A full list of publications can be found at Publications

Weblinks

 * Poggio Lab, Martino Poggio's research group
 * Martino Poggio at the University of Basel
 * CV Martino Poggio, detailed CV
 * Interview with the European Physical Society (EPS)
 * Webinar of Martino Poggio on "Probing Local Magnetic Fields Patterns"