About

Riccardo Comin is an Associate Professor of Physics at MIT who explores the novel phases of matter found in electronic solids with strong interactions, known as quantum materials. His research focuses on the interplay between various degrees of freedom such as charge, spin, orbital, and lattice, which leads to emergent orders through electronic symmetry breaking. His lab employs synthesis, scattering, and spectroscopy techniques, including resonant X-ray scattering, spectroscopy, optical probes, and photoelectron spectroscopy, to investigate phenomena like superconductivity, complex magnetism, and charge/spin-density-waves in transition metal-based compounds. Comin's work has historically involved studying single-crystalline bulk materials and more recently has extended to 2D nanomaterials to explore emergent phenomena in the quantum limit. Riccardo Comin joined MIT as an Assistant Professor of Physics in July 2016. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Università degli Studi di Trieste in Italy, earning a Master of Science in Physics in 2009. He obtained his PhD from the University of British Columbia in 2013 and was an NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto. He was named the Class of 1947 Career Development Associate Professor of Physics in 2019 and was promoted to associate professor in 2021. His research has earned him numerous awards, including the 2025 Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the 2025 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the 2018 NSF CAREER Award, among others.

Research topics

• Physics
• Condensed matter physics
• Quantum mechanics
• Materials science
• Chemistry
• Metallurgy
• Business
• Ecology
• Inorganic chemistry
• Physical chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Chemical engineering

Selected publications

• Van der Waals heterostructures go multiferroic

  Nature Electronics · 2026-01-21

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Structural origin of resonant diffraction in <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>RuO</mml:mi> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:msub> </mml:math>

  Physical review. B./Physical review. B · 2026-01-28

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary document for Single-shot imaging with randomized structured illumination at a free electron laser - 7801888.pdf

  Figshare · 2026-02-27

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Supplemental Document

  PublisherDOI

• Soft X-ray Reflection Ptychography

  Open MIND · 2026-01-28

  preprint

  Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy and ptychography have become mature tools for high-resolution, element-specific imaging of nanoscale structures. However, transmission geometries impose stringent constraints on sample thickness and preparation, thereby limiting investigations of extended or bulk specimens, especially in the soft X-ray region. Here, we demonstrate reflection geometry soft X-ray ptychography as a robust imaging mode. Instrumental feasibility and spatial resolution are established using a lithographically defined Siemens star and barcode test pattern on a multilayer substrate. We empirically demonstrate a full-pitch spatial resolution of ca. 45 nm from Fourier ring correlation analysis of the reconstructed object. The results highlight the potential of the reflection geometry for nondestructive X-ray studies of materials without the need for transmissive samples.

  DOI

• The path to room-temperature superconductivity: A programmatic approach.

  Open MIND · 2026-01-21

  article

  Room-temperature superconductivity is arguably the greatest challenge in condensed matter physics, with significant practical and commercial implications if it can be solved. There are no physical laws preventing this from occurring; indeed, superconductivity has been observed in so many different materials under so many different conditions that it is almost a "generic" property of nonmagnetic metals. This guides our viewpoint that high-temperature superconductivity is possible, if difficult to realize. Here, we lay out two grand challenges facing the field, titled the Prediction Challenge and the Engineering Challenge, and put forward a programmatic approach for overcoming them. The Prediction Challenge addresses the fact that our ability to predict new conventional superconductors has dramatically advanced in recent years, but most predicted materials are not experimentally synthesizable. To address this challenge, we propose a shift from modeling the superconducting critical temperature and dynamic stability toward high-throughput ab initio and predictive thermodynamics/synthesis modeling. The Engineering Challenge describes how we can control superconductivity with various "knobs," including pressure, nanostructuring, and light. However, our ability to predict how a specific knob will modify a given superconductor is limited, making it difficult to fully exploit them. We describe the current status and identify areas where additional work is needed to fully exploit six of the most common knobs. Progress in both of these grand challenges, while closely integrating theory and experiment into a continuous feedback loop and incorporating insights from fields beyond physics and materials science, could unlock the underlying keys to room-temperature superconductivity.

  DOI

• Ferroelectric $p$-wave magnets

  ArXiv.org · 2026-03-19

  articleOpen access

  Couplings between ferroelectric and magnetic orders offer promising routes toward low-dissipation electronics. However, such couplings are notably rare, largely due to the poor compatibility between insulating band structures and ferromagnetism. Here, we study a different strategy: we identify previously overlooked time-reversal-symmetric $p$- and $f$-wave spin-polarized insulating electronic states in ferroelectrics with noncollinear magnetic sublattices. We show that combining spin and magnetic group theory enables a systematic classification of the origin of polar symmetry breaking. We distinguish crystallographic, exchange-, or spin-orbit-driven mechanisms. Furthermore, we identify more than 50 candidate materials. Using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate a pristine, time-reversal-symmetric $p$-wave spin-polarized electronic structure in the well-known multiferroic $\mathrm{GdMn_2O_5}$. We further show that its $p$-wave order can be switched electrically, opening alternative paths toward spintronic and multiferroic functionalities in this class of materials.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Single-shot imaging with randomized structured illumination at a free electron laser

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-02-27

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Stroboscopic nanoscale imaging with free electron laser light is revolutionizing our understanding of fast dynamics in heterogeneous systems. The short wavelength of X-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation makes it possible to achieve nanoscale resolution, while resonance with atomic transitions gives access to electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom. Here, we report on our implementation of a recently developed imaging method, randomized probe imaging, at a free electron laser. The advantage of randomized probe imaging over existing methods is its compatibility both with extended and strongly scattering samples. Our implementation delivers robust single-shot reconstructions at up to a full-pitch resolution of 400 nm over a field of view with a 40 μm diameter. We also demonstrate single-shot imaging of magnetic domain structures using circular dichroism at resonance, paving the way to future time-resolved studies of magnetic dynamics, shock physics, and the dynamics of collective electronic phases.

  PublisherDOI

• Soft X-ray Reflection Ptychography

  ArXiv.org · 2026-01-28

  articleOpen access

  Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy and ptychography have become mature tools for high-resolution, element-specific imaging of nanoscale structures. However, transmission geometries impose stringent constraints on sample thickness and preparation, thereby limiting investigations of extended or bulk specimens, especially in the soft X-ray region. Here, we demonstrate reflection geometry soft X-ray ptychography as a robust imaging mode. Instrumental feasibility and spatial resolution are established using a lithographically defined Siemens star and barcode test pattern on a multilayer substrate. We empirically demonstrate a full-pitch spatial resolution of ca. 45 nm from Fourier ring correlation analysis of the reconstructed object. The results highlight the potential of the reflection geometry for nondestructive X-ray studies of materials without the need for transmissive samples.

  PublisherOA PDF

• Supplementary document for Single-shot imaging with randomized structured illumination at a free electron laser - 7801888.pdf

  Open MIND · 2026-02-27

  articleSenior author

  Supplemental Document

  DOI

• Ferroelectric $p$-wave magnets

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2026-03-19

  preprintOpen access

  Couplings between ferroelectric and magnetic orders offer promising routes toward low-dissipation electronics. However, such couplings are notably rare, largely due to the poor compatibility between insulating band structures and ferromagnetism. Here, we study a different strategy: we identify previously overlooked time-reversal-symmetric $p$- and $f$-wave spin-polarized insulating electronic states in ferroelectrics with noncollinear magnetic sublattices. We show that combining spin and magnetic group theory enables a systematic classification of the origin of polar symmetry breaking. We distinguish crystallographic, exchange-, or spin-orbit-driven mechanisms. Furthermore, we identify more than 50 candidate materials. Using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate a pristine, time-reversal-symmetric $p$-wave spin-polarized electronic structure in the well-known multiferroic $\mathrm{GdMn_2O_5}$. We further show that its $p$-wave order can be switched electrically, opening alternative paths toward spintronic and multiferroic functionalities in this class of materials.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: FRACTAL ELECTRONIC TEXTURES IN QUANTUM CRITICAL SOLIDS

  NSF · $740k · 2018–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Jonathan Pelliciari

  40 shared

• Connor A. Occhialini

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  38 shared

• Jiarui Li

  Peking University

  37 shared

• Oleksandr Voznyy

  University of Toronto

  36 shared

• A. Damascelli

  32 shared

• Ronny Sutarto

  31 shared

• Qian Song

  Institute of Chemistry

  31 shared

• Mingu Kang

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  28 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Physics & Astronomy

  University of British Columbia

  2013

• M.Sc., Physics

  Università degli Studi di Trieste

  2009

• B.Sc., Physics

  Università degli Studi di Trieste

  2007

Awards & honors

• Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Mo…
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander v…
• DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program Award (2…
• MIT Frank E. Perkins Award for Excellence in Graduate Advisi…
• Appointed Class of 1947 Career Development Professor (MIT) (…