Extreme Quantum Materials
Abstract
Project Abstract Summary(Approved for Public Release)The Problem and Objectives: This Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship proposal, titled ExtremeQuantum Materials, is paradigm-shifting in its advancement of a new materials design principle.This principle is to use the amplified quantum fluctuations at the border of a magnetic order tocreate and control topological states of matter. In addition,research is proposed to investigatethe material s extreme responses and exceptional coherence. Based on the extreme responses toexternal stimuli, we can harness external fields to switch and manipulate the optical, magnetic, andtransport properties, potentially enabling novel routes to such quantum technologies as quantumsensing and quantum computation.Technical Approaches: The proposed research will focus on Kondo materials and transition-metalcompounds. The materials will be carefully chosen. First, all of them will have spacegroup symmetries that promote the development of topological states. Second, the insights wegain from studying the rare-earth-based Kondo materials will guide the choice of the transition-metalcompounds; this guidance comes in the choice of space group symmetry as well as in theemphasis on band flatness. The proposed research will develop and utilize radically new theoreticaland computational studies that perform unprecedented symmetry analyses in interacting systems,carry out calculations both in realistic models and ab initio, and incorporate feedback from theory-guidedexperiments in an essential way. Three interconnected projects will be pursued:1. Project 1 seeks to establish the proposed design principle in Kondo materials and realizefundamentally new states of matter such as in situ topological superconductor.2. Project 2 aims to demonstrate the extreme responsiveness of the strongly correlated topologicalquantum phases under electrical and optical stimuli, and to investigate the stronglycorrelated topological excitations for exceedingly long coherence time.3. Project 3 pursues a path towards room-temperature functionality by searching for stronglycorrelated topological phases in transition-metal compounds with flat bands.Anticipated Outcome: The new design principle will have predictive power towards the realizationof strongly correlated topological quantum materials with extreme responses and exceptionalcoherence.These are new classes of correlated topological solids in which the cooperation betweentopology and strong correlations produces electrical and optical responses that are orders ofmagnitude larger than their conventional counterparts and, likewise, generates exceptionally longquantum coherence time scales. The research will establish a fresh, unconventional approach tothe discovery and predictive design of materials, and may lead to novel platforms for quantumfunctionality such as extreme sensing and quantum information processing.Impact on DoD Capabilities: The proposed research is expected to realize extreme quantum materials.These extremely responsive and coherent quantum materials may serve as novel platformsfor DoD capabilities of interest, such as quantum sensing and quantumcomputation. The proposedresearch will impact on a large group of new graduate students and postdoctoral fellows by providingthem with an enhanced educational and training experience in a dynamic environment createdby an exceptionally broad network of world-classcollaborators. Finally, the involvement of DoDscientists will give ARL and AFRL additional opportunities to engage in the rapidly expandingfield of Quantum Materials and allow them to interact with many junior researchers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 13, 2023
- Source ID
- N000142312870
Entities
People
- Qimiao Si
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Rice University
- United States Navy