Cosimo Zappelli

Cosimo Zappelli is an Italian condensed matter physicist known for his experimental research on the electronic properties of novel quantum materials. His work primarily utilizes advanced scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy techniques to investigate topological insulators, Dirac semimetals, and other correlated electron systems. Zappelli's contributions have provided key insights into quantum phase transitions and exotic surface states in low-dimensional materials. He holds a research leadership position at a major European institute and has been recognized with several early-career awards.

Early life and education

Zappelli was born and raised in Milan, where he developed an early interest in the physical sciences. He pursued his undergraduate studies in physics at the Polytechnic University of Milan, graduating with honors. For his doctoral research, he joined the laboratory of Giorgio Benedek, focusing on the theoretical and experimental study of surface phonons and electron-phonon coupling. He subsequently secured a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, working within the Quantum Matter group led by a leading expert in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. This period solidified his expertise in the experimental investigation of quantum materials.

Career

Following his postdoctoral work, Zappelli was appointed as a junior research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany. At this renowned institution, he established a state-of-the-art ultra-high vacuum laboratory dedicated to low-temperature scanning probe microscopy. He later returned to Italy as an associate professor at his alma mater, the Polytechnic University of Milan, where he teaches advanced courses in solid-state physics and nanoscience. In this role, he also leads a collaborative research team that maintains strong ties with international facilities like the Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste and the Paul Scherrer Institute.

Research and contributions

Zappelli's research is centered on probing the emergent electronic phenomena in artificially engineered and naturally occurring quantum materials. A significant portion of his work involves the atomic-scale characterization of topological insulators such as bismuth selenide and antimony telluride, mapping their protected surface Dirac cones and Majorana fermion states. He has published influential studies on the quantum spin Hall effect in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. His group has also made contributions to understanding the charge density wave transitions in materials like tantalum disulfide and the unusual superconductivity observed in twisted bilayer graphene heterostructures. His experimental findings are often analyzed in collaboration with theoretical groups specializing in density functional theory and many-body physics.

Awards and honors

For his pioneering work, Zappelli has received several notable accolades aimed at supporting outstanding early-career scientists. He was awarded a highly competitive European Research Council Starting Grant to fund his investigations into topological quantum matter. The Italian Physical Society honored him with their Prize for Young Researchers in Condensed Matter Physics. He has also been an invited speaker at major international conferences including the American Physical Society March Meeting and the International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors. His research publications regularly appear in high-impact journals such as *Nature Physics*, *Physical Review Letters*, and *Nano Letters*.

Personal life

Zappelli is known to be an avid mountaineer and regularly climbs in the Alps. He is also a classical music enthusiast, with a particular interest in the works of Giuseppe Verdi and Claude Debussy. He maintains active scientific outreach efforts, frequently participating in public lecture series organized by the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and the Milan Science Museum to communicate the wonders of quantum physics to a broader audience.

Category:Italian physicists Category:Condensed matter physicists Category:21st-century Italian scientists