Dacen Waters

Assistant Professor

Professional Biography

Prof. Dacen Waters (he/him/his) earned his bachelor’s degrees in physics and mechanical engineering from Arkansas Tech University. He then went on to get his PhD in physics at Carnegie Mellon University, under the supervision of Profs. Randy Feenstra and Ben Hunt. His PhD work focused on two-dimensional material and moiré systems using scanning tunneling microscopy. He then went on to be a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Matthew Yankowitz’s lab at the University of Washington, where he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. At the University of Washington, he utilized transport studies to investigate novel correlated and topological states in graphitic moiré systems. In Fall of 2024, he began as an Assistant Professor in the University of Denver Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Degree(s)

  • Ph.D., Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 2020
  • MS, Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 2016
  • BS, Mechanical Engineering, Arkansas Tech University, 2013
  • BS, Physics, Arkansas Tech University, 2013

Research

The Waters Lab is an experimental condensed matter group. Our research efforts focus on novel properties of two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures such as moiré physics, topology, superconductivity, magnetism, and ferroelectricity. Our lab uses a variety of tools, with the primary techniques being magnetotransport and surface probe measurements.