Physics

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Condensed Matter


C J Bolech Assistant Professor	Rui-Rui Du Professor	Emilia Morosan Assistant Professor	Doug Natelson Associate Professor

Peter Nordlander Professor	Carl Rau Professor	Qimiao Si Professor	G. King Walters Emeritus Professor

"Big" questions in condensed matter include:
What phases of matter exist when interactions between electrons and quantum effects are both strong?
How do transitions between those phases take place, even at zero temperature?
How do the electronic and magnetic properties of materials vary when confined at the nanoscale?
How can we describe CM systems when they are driven out of equilibrium?

Specific projects of interest include:

• Millikelvin experiments in quantum Hall topological phases
• Quantum transport and imaging of nonequilibrium 2d electrons
• Single-molecule electronics
• Magnetic nanostructures
• Heavy fermion materials and quantum phase transitions
• Novel electronic and magnetic materials

• Theoretical condensed matter physics

• Quantum criticality and non-Fermi liquid behavior in strongly correlated systems
• High temperature superconductivity, especially spin dynamics
• Quantum field theory and integrable systems
• Theoretical nanophotonics
• Nonequilibrium transport; open and dissipative systems
• Ultracold gases and optical lattices as condensed matter systems

• Applied and engineering physics

• Organic semiconductors
• Single-molecule sensing
• Applications of plasmonics and nanophotonics

quantum critical point

nanoscale gaps

An illustration of local quantum criticality. The traditional theory of phase transitions distinguishes the phases of matter by an order parameter -- a classical variable -- and describes criticality in terms of order-parameter fluctuations. This Landau paradigm may fail for a quantum phase transition, which occurs at absolute zero temperature when a non-thermal parameter (delta) is tuned. The local quantum criticality, developed in the context of antiferromagnetic quantum critical points of heavy fermion metals, is inherently quantum-mechanical. It involves a breakdown of the Kondo screening effect, which leads to a jump in the Fermi surface and the vanishing of multiple energy scales at the onset of magnetic ordering.
Image: Q. Si.

Nanoscale gaps for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. (A) Micrograph of nanoscale Au constrictions. (B) Close-up. A nanometer-scale gap has been made between left and right electrodes, which is a focal point for plasmon enhanced electric fields when illuminated. (C) Raman image of silicon substrate, showing Au pads. (D) Raman emission from molecules on the Au electrodes, localized to the nanoscale gap. Similar structures can be used for sensing and examining the interplay between current flow and vibrational effects in single molecules.
Image: D. Natelson.

Other useful links:

• Condensed matter seminars
• Keck Program in Quantum Materials
• Rice Quantum Institute

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