His current research interests include the atomic-scale characterization and control of matter for applications in energy storage and conversion, exploring new phases of two-dimensional materials that cannot exist in the bulk, and developing a new generation of probability-current detectors and algorithms for measuring physical properties in an electron microscope.

he applied his research on imaging single atoms and atomic-scale spectroscopy to determine the physical limits on how small a transistor can be made. His work more generally has focused on the development of scanning transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy as quantitative tools for atomic-resolution materials analysis, and its application to unraveling connections between electronic-structure changes on the atomic scale and the macroscopic behavior of materials. This includes systems as diverse as fuel cells, batteries, turbine blades, and two-dimensional superconductors.