Michael Arumainayagam

I am a fourth-year PhD student in the Physics Department at UC Berkeley. My research focuses on two-dimensional materials. These materials are only one atom thick, which makes their properties highly tunable. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, I image their electronic structure down to the atomic scale. Specifically, I study how strongly interacting electrons organize into crystals, correlated liquids, amorphous states, and other phases of matter. Outside of research, I enjoy traveling, playing the cello, and trying fruit from Berkeley Bowl.