Prof. Tae-Hwan Kim is a Full Professor at the Department of Physics at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in Pohang, South Korea. He received his Ph.D. in physics from Seoul National University in 2005, where he studied spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy under the supervision of Professor Young Kuk. From 2006 to 2010, he worked at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, investigating nanoscale transport properties of various nanostructures at low temperatures using low-temperature four-probe scanning tunneling microscopy under the guidance of Dr. An-Ping Li. He then served as a Collegiate Assistant Professor at POSTECH from 2010 to 2013, focusing on one-dimensional atomic wires in collaboration with Professor Han Woong Yeom. Since joining the POSTECH faculty in 2013, Prof. Kim has concentrated his research on topological edge states in low-dimensional electronic systems. Notably, he and his colleagues discovered chiral solitons in indium atomic wires, characterizing their structural and electronic properties, and proposed topological operations using chiral solitons for next-generation information devices. His research interests also encompass two-dimensional materials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides. Prof. Kim has co-authored publications in esteemed peer-reviewed journals, including Science, Nature Physics, and Physical Review Letters.
Education
- Ph. D. in Physics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Feb 2005)
Spin-Polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscopy of Patterned Magnetic Nanostructures
Advisor: Prof. Young Kuk - M. Sc. in Physics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Feb 1999)
Fabrication of Artificial Metal Dot Arrays and Studies on their Magnetic Properties
Advisor: Prof. Young Kuk - B.Sc. in Physics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Feb 1997)
Research Experiences
- Professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology (March 2025 – present)
- Associate Professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology (March 2018 – February 2025)
- Assistant Professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology (August 2013 – February 2018)
- Collegiate Assistant Professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology (Jun 2010 – July 2013)
- Postdoctoral Research Associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA (Feb 2006 – Jun 2010)
- Postdoctoral Research Associate at Center for Science in Nanometer Scale, Seoul Nat’l Univ., Korea (Mar 2005 – Jan 2006)