Light Control

Phase space of Mott Insulator Ca2RuO4 in space of electronic disproportionation (horizontal axis) and lattice distortion (vertical axis) showing electronic state trajectories after weak (red), intermediate (blue) and strong (green) optical pulse, showing how escape from insulating energy minimum requires both a strong pulse and simultaneous evolution of electron and lattice degrees of freedom. From Nature Physics 20, 807 (2024).

A long-standing goal of quantum science is to dynamically control electronic behavior (e.g. inducing electronic phases not found in equilibrium) by application of appropriately designed light or other driving fields.

The subject combines the theoretical and conceptual challenges of nonequilibrium physics with the complexities of the quantum many-body problem.

CCQ scientists, in collaboration with our theoretical and experimental partners in the Max Planck/New York Center for Nonequilibrium Quantum Phenomena are developing theoretical methods and using them to understand topics including photoinduced twisting transitions in Moire materials (arXiv:2502.11452), voltage-driven excitonic insulators (Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 266001 (2024) ), optically generated/cavity modified superconductivity in organic conductors (Phys. Rev. X 10, 031028, arXiv:2505.17378) and driven metal-insulator transitions (Nature Physics 20, 807 (2024)).

Project Leader: Andrew Millis
Project Scientists: Johannes Flick, Valentin Crepel, Angel Rubio (Initiative for Computational Catalysis)