Course Leader, MATSCI 142: Quantum Mechanics of Nanoscale Materials, Stanford University

• Introduction to quantum mechanics and its application to the properties of nanoscale materials (see syllabus)

• Prepared materials and delivered 1 hr lectures 3 days a week for 10 weeks between Apr 2023 - Jun 2023 to 15 undergraduate students (7 female, 8 male)

Course Goals:

• Recap of prerequisite physics and math concepts (including linear algebra, calculus and complex numbers) with no assumed prior background 

• Encouraging students to think in a completely different way beyond common sense intuition

• To provide an introduction to quantum mechanics, and work toward advanced topics fundamental to modern materials science and nanotechnology

Excerpts of anonymous student feedback:

• "One of the best classes I’ve taken at Stanford!"

• "Quantum mechanics is very math-dense, but don't let that deter you from taking this course. As an engineer, I have a new-found appreciation for why band gaps and molecular structures are the way they are. Take this class just to feel something."

• "Definitely take it! The instructors are amazing and make the challenging course content much more approachable!"

• "I liked how the instructor was always very clear about what the expectations for the course were. He was very good at giving us all of the information so we understood what was happening, but then identifying clearly the most important takeaway"

• "Instruction team seemed very supportive. They were also very responsive and helpful."

• "Tom and the TA, Arnob were my favorite parts of the course! Tom and Arnob were very engaging in lectures and also supported the class through the difficult material. They were very understanding and accommodating to student circumstances and difficulties." 

• "The delivery of this class was very good compared to other STEM classes. Office hours were always plentiful and there was so much support."

• "If everyone didn't understand something, a whole class period would be dedicated to office hours to make sure we were all on the same page--something that never has happened in my other STEM classes (that I quite enjoyed)."

• "The emphasis in this class was really on understanding and not so much grades."

Demonstrator, Physical Chemistry, Imperial College London

• Planning, demonstrating and report marking for 1st & 2nd year Physical Chemistry classes (>160 hrs total, ca. 150 students)

• Responsible for electronic, vibrational and spectroscopy experiments

Graduate students:

• Melanie Murillo PhD, Electrical Eng., Stanford Time-resolved THz and X-ray characterization of metal-halide perovskites Jan 2022 - Apr 2022

• Tong Wang PhD, Chemistry, Imperial College Three-pulse femtosecond spectroscopy of atomically-thin materials Jan 2021 - Jun 2021

• Ziyuan Ge PhD, Chemistry, Imperial College Exciton-phonon coupling dynamics in layered two-dimensional perovskites Jan 2021 - Jun 2021

• Xijia Zheng PhD, Chemistry, Imperial College Multi-pulse THz spectroscopy of hot polarons in metal-halide perovskites Aug 2020 - Jun 2021

• Ben Carwithen PhD, Chemistry, Imperial College Ultrafast multi-pulse spectroscopy of quantum dots and superlattices Sep 2019 - Jun 2021

Masters students:

• Zhiyang Yu MRes, Chemistry, Imperial College Carrier cooling and recombination in mixed lead-halide perovskites Dec 2020 - Jun 2021

• Chloe Chau MRes, Chemistry, Imperial College Hot carrier relaxation dynamics in PbS colloidal quantum dots Oct 2018 - May 2019

• Marios Maimaris MSci, Photonics, Imperial College Ultrafast infrared spectroscopy using optical parametric amplifiers May 2018 - Sep 2018

Undergraduate students:

• Nova Wu BE, Materials Science, Stanford Dynamic SHG and THz characterization of low-dimensional perovskites Aug 2021 - Jun 2023

• Nomin Erdene UROP, Electrical Eng., Stanford Probing the real-time atomic and nanoscale structure of perovskites Jun 2022 - Aug 2022

• Ahhyun Jeong UROP, Chemistry, Imperial College Kinetic modelling of intraband carrier relaxation in perovskite nanocrystals Jul 2019 - Sep 2019

• William Chang UROP, Chemistry, Imperial College Global analysis of hot carrier cooling dynamics in lead-halide perovskites Jul 2019 - Aug 2019

• Marine Chaplain UROP, Chemistry, Imperial College Ultrafast spectroscopy of perovskite nanomaterials Jul 2018 - Aug 2018

• Seb Gorgon UROP, Chemistry, Imperial College Development of a time-resolved Kerr-gated photoluminescence setup Jun 2017 - Aug 2017

Excerpts of student feedback:

• "Tom, who guided me through the first months of my PhD, and has served as a role-model ever since. The focus, drive, and intellect you brought… always a source of inspiration" - N. Gallop, PhD Thesis, 2021

• "Tom who also acts as my English teacher – always the first guy for proofreading my publications; you show us by action how to be organized and devoted.”
  - J Zhang, PhD Thesis, 2020

• "Thank you so much for being willing to answer all of my questions and hear my ideas even though I'm just an undergraduate. I truly felt welcomed and supported" - N. Erdene, UROP Feedback, 2022

• "Deep thanks to Tom Hopper for all his guidance and help during the project investigation and write-up. His experience and knowledge in spectroscopy and photophysics of quantum dots were particularly beneficial in assisting me through the research" - C. Chau, MRes Thesis, 2019

• "I would like to thank Tom Hopper for all the guidance and the aid for the completion of this thesis. The discussion that we had were crucial for the understanding of photophysics governing the perovskites. Without any doubt this thesis would be impossible without him." - M. Maimaris, MRes Thesis, 2018