Kelly Luo
Gabilan Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Education
Biography
Kelly Luo received her B.S. in Physics, with a minor in Mathematics, from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2012. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from The Ohio State University, where she worked with Prof. Roland Kawakami. From 2019 to 2022, she was a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow and Honorary Kavli Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University, working with Profs. Daniel C. Ralph, Kin Fai Mak, and Jie Shan in the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics and the Kavli Institute for Nanoscale Science. She joined the University of Southern California in 2023 as the Gabilan Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy and holds courtesy appointments in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Materials Science.Research Summary
Experimental quantum materials, precision measurement, and nonequilibrium spin dynamics. My group develops ultrasensitive optical and time-resolved instrumentation and combines it with advanced X-ray and electron microscopy, including cryogenic scanning Sagnac interferometry, ultrafast Kerr microscopy, synchrotron scanning transmission X-ray microscopy, and spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy at LBNL. These complementary probes enable us to discover and control emergent magnetic, altermagnetic, orbital, and other collective states in low-dimensional quantum materials, opening new routes toward GHz–THz spin-based information processing, quantum sensing, and energy-efficient electronics.Awards
- 2026 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) by Army Research Office
- 2025 Department of Defense Army Research Office Early Career Program (ECP) Award
- 2024 Department of Energy Early Career Scientists (ECRP) Award
- 2023 Gabilan Assistant Professorship by University of Southern California Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Program
Appointments
- Physics and Astronomy
- The Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
- SSC 221
- Frank R. Seaver Science Center
- 920 Bloom Walk, Los Angeles, CA 90089
- yunqiuke@usc.edu