Meet the authors of the runner-up paper

Coherent X-ray imaging of stochastic dynamics

Arnab Sarkar and Allan S. Johnson

	Dr. Arnab Sarkar is a postdoctoral researcher in the Ultrafast Science of Quantum Materials (USQM) group, led by Prof. Allan Stewart Johnson, at IMDEA Nanociencia, Madrid, Spain. His research focuses on X-ray coherent imaging and ultrafast magnetism measurements. He earned his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where he investigated nonlinear dynamics in nano-electromechanical systems, including the observation of time crystals in classical NEMS devices. He holds a master’s degree in physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Dr. Sarkar specializes in the application of ultrafast X-ray coherent imaging to explore quantum materials and advanced measurement techniques.
	Dr. Allan S. Johnson is head of the Ultrafast Science of Quantum Materials group at IMDEA Nanoscience (Madrid, Spain). There he holds a Ramón y Cajal fellowship, BBVA Leonardo fellowship, and directs the ERC Starting Grant “KnotSeen” dedicated to imaging photoinduced nanoscale dynamics. Previously he was a La Caixa Junior Leader at the Institute of Photonic Science in Barcelona, and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions doctoral fellow at Imperial College London, where he received his PhD in 2017. His research has spanned quantum materials, coherent X-ray imaging, ultrafast optics, and attosecond science, always with a special interest in non-perturbative dynamics.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

We’re extremely excited to apply this method to looking at laser-driven nanoscale dynamics, and break away from the stroboscopic (read, repeatable) dynamics accessible with existing techniques.

How do you feel about Materials Advances as a place to publish research on this topic?

The ability to reach an audience well outside of our typical quantum materials community, but who could benefit from the methods we’ve developed, make Materials Advances a great place for us.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice for early career scientists?
When deciding where to go for a PhD, or a postdoc, or even a junior faculty position, make sure to talk to other people in the post you’ll be taking up. Where you work is a huge factor, and you want to make sure it’s an environment that will suit you in reality and not just on paper!