Pradeep Namboodiri (Fed)

Dr. Pradeep Namboodiri is an experimental physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he is a member of the Atom Scale Device Group. He joined NIST in 2003 as a postdoctoral researcher in the Ceramic Division of the NIST Materials Laboratory, where he focused on utilizing atomic force microscopy techniques to investigate the force-displacement behavior of metal-metal, metal-dielectric, and dielectric-dielectric interfaces at the nanoscale. Dr. Namboodiri later transitioned to the atomic scale devices project, where he played a key role in the development of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM)-patterned qubit devices for quantum information applications, as well as arrayed devices for use as analog quantum simulators. 

Dr. Namboodiri has over 15 years of expertise in scanning tunneling microscopy, specializing in imaging silicon surfaces and performing tip-based lithography on hydrogen-passivated silicon. His skill set also includes atomic force microscopy imaging, force spectroscopy, scanning capacitance microscopy, and Kelvin probe microscopy. He developed a method for the ex-situ localization of buried devices using scanning capacitance and scanning Kelvin probe microscopy, as well as a novel process for contact fabrication of STM-patterned devices in a clean room environment. These techniques are currently applied in ongoing programs focused on phosphorus monolayer devices for analog and computational applications. Dr. Namboodiri is deeply involved in advancing nanofabrication processes, including lithography, etching, thin-film deposition, and characterization through various metrology tools. He has extensive experience with electron beam lithography, primarily in the fabrication of electrical contacts and other supporting structures for atomic-scale devices, as well as the creation of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) quantum dot structures.

He holds an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Pune, India on field emission and ion microscopy.  Prior to his appointment at NIST, Dr. Namboodiri was a postdoctoral researcher at the Kamerlingh Onne’s Laboratory at Leiden University and at Philips Research in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, where he contributed to the development of a miniature electrostatic scanning electron microscope (SEM).