Research

By exploiting the ability to tune picometer scale structure, composition, and dimensionality in such heterostructures, our goal is to gain a microscopic understanding of how light-induced non-equilibrium phases form, how to control them, and how to functionalize them.

Ultimately, we aim to establish a novel paradigm of non-equilibrium materials design, centering around the idea that one can create highly desirable dynamical states of matter by engineering light-matter interactions at the atomic scale.

A major focus of our lab is exploring the use of light to dynamically control quantum phases and induce new non-equilibrium functionalities on ultrafast (femto- to picosecond) timescales. Quantum materials are characterized by strong interactions that couple electron charges, spins, and orbitals, and the surrounding atomic lattice, leading to unique emergent phenomena, such as high-temperature superconductivity, colossal magnetoresistance, and topologically protected transport.

Systems of interest include superconductors, magnets, ferroelectrics, and other electronically ordered solids.

Dynamical control of emergent interfacial phenomena involves manipulating the complex behaviors that arise at the boundaries between different materials or phases, such as superconductivity, magnetism, or electronic topology.

Research in this field is crucial for developing advanced materials and devices with tailored properties for electronics, energy, and quantum computing.

The optically driven functionalities in quantum materials, including superconductivity, metal-insu-lator transitions, and ferroic switching can form the basis for novel technologies with potential for high-speed, energy-efficient computing, quantum information processing, and light-based energy conversion.

To realize such technologies, we aim to design and fabricate quantum material-based optoelectronic devices, which exploit their unique ultrafast non-equilibrium responses. Crucially, such devices necessitate the integration of quantum materials in the form of thin films.

Ultrastrong coupling in quantum light-matter cavities represents a frontier in quantum physics, where the interaction strength between light and matter reaches a regime where the coupling energy is comparable to the energies of the system’s components themselves.

Our work has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of quantum mechanics, enable the development of advanced quantum technologies like more efficient light-harvesting systems, quantum sensors, and quantum computers by leveraging these hybrid states for unprecedented control and manipulation of quantum systems.