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David R. Clarke

Faculty
  • Gordon McKay Professor of Materials
David R. Clarke

Contact Information

Office: Cruft Hall 303
Email: clarke [ AT ] seas [ DOT ] harvard [ DOT ] edu
Office Phone: (617) 495-4140
Assistant: Sarah Lefebvre
Office: Cruft Hall 217
Email: sarahl [ AT ] seas [ DOT ] harvard [ DOT ] edu
Office Phone: 617-495-6304

Education

  1. B.Sc., 1968, Applied Physics (First Class Honors), Sussex University, UK
  2. PhD., 1974, Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University

Research Areas

  1. Applied Physics: Electronic and Magnetic Systems and Devices
  2. Applied Physics: Materials Science
  3. Applied Physics: Optics, Electromagnetics, and Light-Matter Interactions

Research Profile

David Clarke pursues three primary areas of research: high temperature materials, including thermal barrier coatings; materials for electronics and MEMS devices; and electrical and piezoelectric properties of ceramics. The research includes the development and application of novel sensor for measuring stress and temperature with a focus on optical based methods.

He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, England and B.Sc. (First Class Honors) in Applied Sciences from the University of Sussex, England.

Prior to his appointment at Harvard, Clarke was a Professor of Materials at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also served as Senior Manager of the Materials Department at IBM Research Division in Yorktown Heights, New York; an Associate Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and had appointments at Rockwell International Science Center and the University of California, Berkeley.

Clarke has been involved in many different materials research and development programs, contributing to ceramics, metals, composites and semiconductors, as well as introducing new approaches for studying the interrelations between microstructure and properties. He is author or co-author of more than 350 papers, holder of 6 patents, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.