Quantum materials exhibit remarkable collective phenomena, including unconventional superconductivity, strange metallic behavior, charge ordering, and topological responses, that emerge from the interactions of many electrons. Understanding how these microscopic interactions give rise to macroscopic quantum states remains one of the central challenges in condensed matter physics.
Our research combines nonlinear terahertz spectroscopy with time- and momentum-resolved scattering to directly probe the nonequilibrium dynamics of electronic, lattice, and spin degrees of freedom. By measuring both temporal evolution and momentum-dependent correlations, we investigate how collective excitations emerge, interact, and evolve in strongly correlated and topological materials.
Our goal is to uncover the fundamental mechanisms governing emergent quantum phases and to develop experimental pathways for controlling quantum matter far from equilibrium.
Research Areas
- Correlated Quantum Matter: Understanding how electronic interactions produce unconventional superconductivity, strange metallicity, charge-density waves, and other strongly correlated phases.
- Ultrafast Nonequilibrium Dynamics: Investigating how intense optical fields reshape electronic energy landscapes, stabilize transient phases, and manipulate collective order on ultrafast timescales.
- Topological Materials: Exploring how Berry curvature and topological band structures influence nonlinear optical responses, collective excitations, and driven quantum phenomena.
Experimental Methods
- Terahertz Two-Dimensional Coherent Spectroscopy (THz 2DCS): Multidimensional nonlinear spectroscopy in the
~meV energy range that measures higher-order susceptibilities, decoherence, and energy-relaxation dynamics. - Time- and Momentum-Resolved Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (tr-EELS / M-EELS): Ultrafast electron scattering that probes charge dynamics, collective excitations, and dynamical fluctuations at finite momentum transfer.
- Synchrotron-based X-ray Scattering: Inelastic x-ray scattering and x-ray diffraction measurements used to characterize lattice dynamics, structural symmetry, and the interplay between electronic and structural degrees of freedom.