Research
At the heart of our research is the collective behavior of electrons in quantum materials: how quasiparticle coherence emerges and is lost; how superconductivity, charge order, Mott insulating behavior, and topological states develop; and how these phases compete and transform, both in and out of equilibrium. We investigate the roles of electronic correlations, spin-orbit coupling, dimensionality, symmetry, and coupling to the lattice across distinct material families, using doping, surfaces, interfaces, strain, current, and ultrafast excitation as complementary ways to reveal and tune the underlying physics. By moving between materials, phases, and control parameters, we seek common microscopic principles that connect phenomena often studied in isolation.
How do we think of about quantum materials
Strongly correlated materials get their remarkable properties from the competition between a few basic factors: bandwidth, band filling, dimensionality, and the way charge, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom interact. Together, these provide a useful framework for understanding how Coulomb repulsion, ligand hybridization, crystal-field splitting, and spin-orbit coupling combine to produce very different quantum states. Small changes in this balance can trigger unconventional superconductivity, charge and spin order, Mott insulating behavior, and other collective quantum phases. This is the broader perspective that drives much of our work across cuprates, ruthenates, iridates, and other quantum materials.
