Mohammed Hassan. Photo credit: Ameé Hennig, University of Arizona.
Mohammed Hassan is an Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Arizona, a Max-Planck Research Fellow, and a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grantee. He studies atomic, molecular, optical, and condensed matter physics, focusing on establishing the field of attomicroscopy. You can learn more about his research on the Mohammed Hassan Group website.
The Moore Foundation has supported his work on improving the time resolution of electron microscopy and developing a second-generation attomicroscope to imagine electron motion and chemical reaction dynamics at single atom resolution.
In this edition of Beyond the Lab, Mohammed discusses his hopes for real-world impact and passes on advice to young researchers.
What made you want to become a researcher in the first place?
I have been in love with mathematics and physics since the beginning, but when I was studying physics and physical chemistry as an undergraduate, I was fascinated by the motion of electrons. I searched, but no one was able to take pictures of electrons moving around atoms, so I decided to focus on it.
What are some of your sources of inspiration?
Role models and sources of inspiration are always changing as you learn and understand more. When I was an undergraduate, Ahmed Zewail won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999. This had a huge impact not only on me, but on many young scientists in Egypt and across the Middle East. Eventually, I got to work with him at Caltech. Ferenc Krausz, another Nobel laureate, was my supervisor in Germany at Max Planck – I’m so lucky to have worked with these visionaries and learned a lot from them.
What kind of advice do you give to students or young researchers?
I cannot advise them based only on my experience when I started my scientific career 20 years ago since we live in such different times now. So much would be outdated. It’s a different world with, for example, artificial intelligence everywhere. We need to communicate in a language the new generation can understand.
But what I can talk about are the constants that do not change with time, such as the beauty of understanding and seeing new things in scientific research. The beauty and joy are priceless. One thing that stands the test of time is that scientific research needs persistence and determination if you want to discover new things for yourself, so never give up. When you have a dream, always push to make this dream come true. I trust that the next generation can find their way.
In simple terms, how would you describe the problems that you and your colleagues are trying to solve?
Mohammed Hassan speaking at an ATTO X conference. Photo credit: Robert Riedel.
I'm working in two main directions. First, I’m trying to take images of electrons in motion, and for that I developed the world’s fastest electron microscope, the attomicroscope, which allows us to see the motion of electrons inside materials. It won a Microscopy Today Innovation Award for 2025. This award is given by the Microscopy Society of America for innovations that significantly impact the microscopy community, and the awards are recognized globally as a prestigious honor in the field of microscopy and microanalysis.
I would love to extend this to biological and chemical applications to have a real-life impact. The goal is to use a laser to image and to see a new world of quantum electron dynamics. Then, I’d like to use the laser to control electrons. If I control electrons, I can control material properties, chemical reactions, and take the entire field to the biological side.
The other direction my group is pursuing is the development and establishment of ultrafast petahertz quantum electronics. We were able to use lasers to decode data, demonstrate attosecond optical switches and recently demonstrate the fastest petahertz quantum phototransistors. It can be implemented into electronics in a short time and help advance technology addressing a need for ultrafast optics hardware.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your career, and what are some of the most fulfilling moments?
It’s challenging to come from an area where science is still developing and move to other countries where science is so advanced. You have to prove yourself and put extra effort into becoming a distinguished scientist with your own identity, because I believe every researcher must have their own identity and leave their own fingerprint on scientific research. Coming from that background, learning the European way of doing research, and then moving to the United States has given me a unique perspective.
Since you have to put extra effort into reaching your goals, there is a special sense of satisfaction when you reach them. One especially joyful moment in my career was when we were able to use diffraction imaging to see electron motion and attomicroscopy for the first time. I still remember the day – April 28, 2022. You work hard in the lab for years to arrive at a few days where you reach your goal, and it’s such a great moment.
Where do you see yourself in five years, either personally or professionally?
Professionally, I want to see my work have real biological applications. I have some plans in mind, and I hope one day we will be able to use lasers to enhance medical treatments – one of my goals is to help people suffering from diseases. I would also love to see the petahertz phototransistor in a product within the next five years, because I think it will have a great impact on science and technological development in general.
Over the past few years, the scientific community has been facing a great challenge – the loss of trust. My hope is that we are able to have a real, beneficial impact on people’s lives so that we can regain that trust.
Personally, I hope to be a source of inspiration for young scientists in both the United States and the Middle East so that they continue to believe in science and have hope for the future.
What are some of your hobbies or interests when you’re not working?
I like reading, especially about historical figures, because I learn a lot from them. I also like watching soccer – I love Liverpool and Mo Salah, since we come from the same country – and basketball games. It can be crazy and stressful down to the last minute, but it’s just like that in science too – you never give up, even when it’s stressful.
Is there anything else that you’d like to share?
My message to the scientific community is to please join me in helping people trust science and inspire young researchers. The future will be better and more peaceful through science.
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