This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast features Andreas Heinrich, who is founding director of the IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience in Seoul, South Korea.
Originally from Germany, Heinrich spent 18 years at IBM Research in the US where he developed nanosecond scanning tunnelling microscopy. He moved to Seoul in 2016, where he founded the Center for Quantum Nanoscience.
In our conversation, Heinrich explains how researchers at the centre use scanning tunnelling microscopes and other advanced instruments to create and characterize structures and devices made from single atoms or small groups of atoms.
Heinrich talks about the challenges and rewards of building an international research institute from the ground up – and about the professional and personal experiences of moving abroad to pursue a scientific career.
Career advice
We chat about his current research on atomic and molecular spins on surfaces and how they can be used to develop sensors and other quantum technologies. Heinrich also talks about how physicists’ views of quantum physics has changed over his career and about job opportunities in quantum computing, sensing and instrumentation for physicists.
