Dr. Tom Lacmann joins LQM.
© 2025 EPFL
Dr. Tom Lacmann has been awarded first place in the prestigious Otto‑Haxel Dissertation Prize for his PhD thesis, “Origin, symmetry and elastic tuneability of charge density waves in the superconductor BaNi₂(As₁₋ₓPₓ)₂.”
Dr. Tom Lacmann earned his doctorate at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where he investigated charge density waves (CDWs) in BaNi₂(As₁₋ₓPₓ)₂, a non-magnetic analogue of the parent compound of the Fe-based superconductor BaFe₂As₂, using a range of X-ray spectroscopic methods.
His research explored how a soft phonon drives the transition to an unconventional incommensurate CDW, and how these CDWs are dominated by the Ni dxz and dyz orbitals, exhibiting an orbital texture. He also examined how the structure and CDWs can be tuned by chemical, hydrostatic, and uniaxial pressure. This work provided important insights into the nature of CDWs and their interplay with other electronic orders, such as electronic nematicity and superconductivity, in pnictide superconductors.
The Otto‑Haxel Dissertation Prize, which Dr. Lacmann has been selected for, was established in 2017 in honor of nuclear physicist Otto Haxel. It is co‑awarded by the KIT Freundeskreis & Fördergesellschaft and the German Physical Society (DPG). It recognizes the top three doctoral dissertations in physics completed at KIT, the University of Göttingen, and the University of Heidelberg. The prize is both academically and financially significant, highlighting research at the forefront of various domains within physics. The 2025 award ceremony will take place on July 7 in Karlsruhe.
At LQM, Dr. Lacmann will contribute to ongoing research in elastic and inelastic neutron and X-ray scattering, with a focus on double perovskites and other correlated electron materials.