Anthony Cortez, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering

Dr. Anthony Cortez received his BS in Physics from University of California San Diego (UCSD). He went on to complete his MS and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of California Riverside (UCR).

Dr. Cortez teaches courses including Engineering Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Introduction to Engineering, and Physical Science

His research interests include high temperature superconductivity, superconducting detectors, nanofabrication, and space THz technology. He carried out much of his research at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He modified an atomic layer deposition system for growing thin films of magnesium diboride intended for space applications. He fabricated and characterized the performance of a YBaCuO Josephson Junction mixer at THz frequencies and developed a Python package to determine Josephson Junction device parameters and simulate the Josephson mixer performance.

His hobbies include surfing, spearfishing, hiking, reading, baseball, and hockey.

Education

  • Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of California Riverside
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of California Riverside
  • B.S., Physics, University of California San Diego

Courses Taught

  • Introduction to Engineering II and Lab - EGR 1023/L
  • Engineering Mechanics: Statics and Lab - EGR 2014/L
  • Circuits Analysis - EGR 2024
  • Mechanics of Materials - EGR 3034
  • Thermodynamics - EGR/PHY 4013
  • Senior Project II - EGR/PHY 4082
  • General Physics I and Lab - PHY 1044/L
  • Physical Science for Teachers - PSC 1014

Dissertations, Presentations, and Publications

  • Cortez, Anthony. “THz Mixing Using Y-Ba-Cu-O Josephson Junctions Fabricated With Focused Helium Ion Beam Irradiation.” Diss. University of California Riverside, 2021.
  • Cortez, Anthony, Ethan Y. Cho, Hao Li, Daniel Cunnane, Boris Karasik, and Shane A. Cybart. “Tuning Y-Ba-Cu-O Focused Helium Ion Beam Josephson Junctions for Use as THz Mixers” IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, 29, no. 5 (2019).
  • Cortez, Anthony, Ethan Y. Cho, Hao Li, Daniel Cunnane, Boris Karasik, and Shane A. Cybart. “High Frequency Properties of Y-Ba-Cu-O Josephson Junctions” 2019 IEEE International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC), pp. 1-3, (2019).
  • Cortez, Anthony, Ethan Y. Cho, Daniel Cunnane, Boris Karasik, and Shane A. Cybart. “YBCO Focused Helium Ion Beam Josephson Junction Mixers” 2020 Applied Superconductivity Conference (ASC), Virtual, (2020).
  • Cortez, Anthony, Ethan Y. Cho, Hao Li, Daniel Cunnane, Boris Karasik, and Shane A. Cybart. “Mixing with Y-Ba-Cu-O Josephson Junctions Fabricated with Focused Helium Ion Beam Irradiation” 2020 IEEE International Symposium on Space Terahertz Technology (ISSTT), Tempe, AZ, USA, (2020).
  • Cortez, Anthony, Ethan Y. Cho, Hao Li, Daniel Cunnane, Boris Karasik, and Shane A. Cybart. “HTS Josephson Mixers for THz Frequencies” NASA JPL Summer Internship Program (JPLSIP), Pasadena, CA, USA, (2019).
  • Cortez, Anthony, Ethan Y. Cho, Hao Li, Daniel Cunnane, Boris Karasik, and Shane A. Cybart. “High Frequency Properties of Y-Ba-Cu-O Josephson Junctions Fabricated with Helium Ion Beam Irradiation” 2019 IEEE International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC), Riverside, CA, USA, (2019).
  • Cortez, Anthony, Ethan Y. Cho, Hao Li, Daniel Cunnane, Boris Karasik, and Shane A. Cybart. “MgB2 and YBCO Josephson Junction THz Mixers” 2018 Applied Superconductivity Conference (ASC), Seattle, WA, USA (2018).
  • Cunnane, Daniel, Anthony Cortez, Shane Cybart, and Frank Greer. “Magnesium Diboride Thin Films by Thermal Evaporation Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition” 2018 Applied Superconductivity Conference (ASC), Seattle, WA, USA (2018).