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Towards properties on demand in quantum materials

Nature Materials volume 16, pages 1077–1088 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

The past decade has witnessed an explosion in the field of quantum materials, headlined by the predictions and discoveries of novel Landau-symmetry-broken phases in correlated electron systems, topological phases in systems with strong spin–orbit coupling, and ultra-manipulable materials platforms based on two-dimensional van der Waals crystals. Discovering pathways to experimentally realize quantum phases of matter and exert control over their properties is a central goal of modern condensed-matter physics, which holds promise for a new generation of electronic/photonic devices with currently inaccessible and likely unimaginable functionalities. In this Review, we describe emerging strategies for selectively perturbing microscopic interaction parameters, which can be used to transform materials into a desired quantum state. Particular emphasis will be placed on recent successes to tailor electronic interaction parameters through the application of intense fields, impulsive electromagnetic stimulation, and nanostructuring or interface engineering. Together these approaches outline a potential roadmap to an era of quantum phenomena on demand.

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Figure 1: The properties-on-demand approach.
Figure 2: Methods for controlling quantum phases.
Figure 3: Superconductivity and exciton condensates on demand.
Figure 4: Hidden and perturbation-enhanced phases of quantum materials.
Figure 5: Topological properties on demand.

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Acknowledgements

Research at Columbia is supported by DE-FG02-00ER45799 (fundamental physics of graphene), NSF DMR1609096 (high-Tc superconductivity), ARO-W911NF-17-1-0543 (correlated oxides), AFOSR FA9550-15-1-0478 (van der Waals heterostructures), ONR N00014-15-1-2671 (graphene-based devices) and NSF-EFRI EFMA 1741660 (topological effects in graphene). D.N.B. is the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative Investigator through Grant GBMF4533. Additionally, research at Columbia and UCSD is supported by DE-SC0018218 (ultrafast electrodynamics of superconductors) and DE-SC0012375 (ultrafast dynamics of oxides). Research at Caltech is supported by ARO W911NF-17-1-0204 (hidden order in correlated materials), DOE DE-SC0010533 (topological superconductors). D.H. acknowledges support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, an NSF Physics Frontier Center (PHY-1125565) with support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF1250). Additionally, research at Caltech and UCSD is supported by ARO W911NF-16-1-0361 (Floquet engineering and metastable states).

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  1. Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, 10027, New York, USA

    D. N. Basov

  2. Department of Physics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, 92093, California, USA

    R. D. Averitt

  3. Department of Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125, California, USA

    D. Hsieh

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  1. D. N. Basov
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Basov, D., Averitt, R. & Hsieh, D. Towards properties on demand in quantum materials. Nature Mater 16, 1077–1088 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat5017

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