FLEET Research theme 3 — Light-transformed materials
FLEET’s third research theme represents a paradigm shift in material engineering in which a material can be temporarily forced into a new state (for example a topological state or a superfluid state) by applying an intense light beam.
The forced state achieved is only temporary, but researchers hope to learn an enormous amount about fundamental physics as they observe the material shifting between natural and forced states, over a period of microseconds or faster.
Light-transformed materials news
This month’s ARC infrastructure funding round saw FLEET researchers across five universities on teams awarded additional funding towards research facilities, including significant new imaging resources in South Australia and NSW. Pankaj Sharma, initially a FLEET Research Fellow at UNSW and now a Centre AI at Flinders University (South Australia), will help develop new, state-of-the-art atomic force microscopy (AFM) facilities for the …
Researchers from Monash University have unlocked fresh insights into the behaviour of quantum impurities within materials. The new, international theoretical study introduces a novel approach known as the ‘quantum virial expansion,’ offering a powerful tool to uncover the complex quantum interactions in two-dimensional semiconductors. This breakthrough holds potential to reshape our understanding of complex quantum systems and unlock exciting future …
Congratulations Prof Ferenc Krausz (MPQ) awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics today for his work in attosecond physics. Prof Krausz is the Director of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ). As a FLEET Partner Investigator, along with CI A/Prof. Agustin Schiffrin (Monash) and AI Nick Karpowicz (MPQ), Prof Krausz is involved in FLEET’s Research Theme 3, using ultrashort waveform-controlled laser …
First published at RMIT Researchers have created a small device that ‘sees’ and creates memories in a similar way to humans, in a promising step towards one day having applications that can make rapid, complex decisions such as in self-driving cars. The neuromorphic invention is a single chip enabled by a sensing element, doped indium oxide, that is thousands of …
Two-quantum multidimensional coherent spectroscopy (2Q-MDCS) quantifies precise biexciton binding energy Applications in future devices based on biexcitons in TMDCs A rare spectroscopy technique performed at Swinburne University of Technology directly quantifies the energy required to bind two excitons together, providing for the first time a direct measurement of the biexciton binding energy in WS2. As well as improving our fundamental …
First published at EQUS: the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems Eddies in an exotic liquid known as a superfluid merge to form large vortices, analogous to how cyclones form in the turbulent atmosphere. The new research, by a team from The University of Queensland, EQUS and FLEET will be important for emerging technological applications of superfluidity, such …
December’s edition of Nature Physics is dedicated to ultracold quantum technologies, including a review of spectroscopic probes of quantum gases by FLEET’s Chris Vale (Swinburne), with MIT’s Martin Zwierlein. Ultracold gases are a laboratory for precision, many-body physics – delivering a wealth of insights into collective quantum phenomena, with direct implications for nuclear and condensed-matter physics. Spectroscopic techniques can probe …
Driven states in WS2 monolayers unable to discriminate between ultrashort pulses of light and an infinite, continuous drive Ultrashort pulses of light can adiabatically drive transitions to new Floquet phases of matter Ultrashort pulses of light are proven indistinguishable from continuous illumination, in terms of controlling the electronic states of atomically-thin material tungsten disulfide (WS2). A new, Swinburne-led study proves …
Exotic phase transitions unlock pathways to future, superfluid-based technologies. We can learn a lot by studying microscopic and macroscopic changes in a material as it crosses from one phase to another, for example from ice to water to steam. But while these phase transitions are well understood in the case of water, much less is known about the dynamics when …
Congratulations to two of FLEET’s Chief Investigators, whose contributions have recently been recognised by the School of Physics and Astronomy at Monash University: Meera Parish promoted to full Professor Agustin Schiffrin promoted to Associate Professor Prof Meera Parish (right) is a theoretical physicist developing many-body theories that span electron-hole systems and ultracold atomic gases. She is an ARC Future Fellow …
Applying machine learning to automated characterisation of atomically-thin materials Just as James Cameron’s Terminator-800 was able to discriminate between “clothes, boots, and a motorcycle”, machine-learning could identify different areas of interest on 2D materials. The simple, automated optical identification of fundamentally different physical areas on these materials (eg, areas displaying doping, strain, and electronic disorder) could significantly accelerate the science …
Enhanced interactions through strong light-matter coupling Why do two-dimensional exciton-polaritons interact? The intriguing quasiparticle the exciton-polariton is part light (photon), and part matter (exciton). Their excitonic (matter) part confers them the ability to interact with other particles —a property lacking to bare photons. In theory, when confined to only two dimensions, very slow (ie, very cold) excitons should cease any …
What role does heat play in quantum impurity studies? A new, Monash-led theoretical study advances our understanding of its role in thermodynamics in the quantum impurity problem. Quantum impurity theory studies the behaviour of deliberately introduced atoms (ie, ‘impurities’) that behave as particularly ‘clean’ quasiparticles within a background atomic gas, allowing a controllable ‘perfect test bed’ study of quantum correlations. …
FLEET physicists from Monash University and the University of Queensland are finalists, named today, in the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes – the nation’s top science awards. The Australian Quantum Vortex team provided the first proof of a 70-year-old theory of turbulence. Turbulence is everywhere, but remains one of physics’ great unsolved problems. Turbulence in two-dimensional flow, and the giant vortices …
What causes quasiparticle death? In large systems of interacting particles in quantum mechanics, an intriguing phenomenon often emerges: groups of particles begin to behave like single particles. Physicists refer to such groups of particles as quasiparticles. Understanding the properties of quasiparticles may be key to comprehending, and eventually controlling, technologically important quantum effects like superconductivity and superfluidity. Unfortunately, quasiparticles are …
Imagine an alien world with oceans of liquid metal. If such a world exists, metallic elements are likely the sources of the dissolved materials and particles in these oceans. Everything would be made of metallic elements, even lifeforms. It may sound like a concept pulled straight out of a science fiction movie, but some basic elements of this fantastical vision …
Congratulations to FLEET CI A/Prof Meera Parish who received an ARC Future Fellowship in this week’s announcement. “The revolution in electronics and the Information Age were enabled by powerful theories based on the concept of the quasiparticle, an object composed of many particles such as electrons,” writes A/Prof Parish. The new ARC Fellowship will support Meera’s work to unravel the …
There’s more to glass than meets the eye. Glasses, which are disordered materials with no long-range chemical order, have some mysterious properties that have remained enigmatic for several decades. Amongst these are the anomalous vibrational states that contribute to the heat capacity at low temperature. Early researchers established that these states obey Bose-Einstein statistics, and the name stuck, so today …
A new theoretical study at Monash University has improved our understanding of the interplay between quantum and thermal fluctuations (or excitations) in quantum matter. The study found that an impurity within a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) exhibits an intriguing energy spectrum as its temperature is raised above zero kelvin, with the ground-state quasiparticle splitting into a number of branches that depends …
A Swinburne University of Technology study published this week examines the propagation of energy as sound waves in a quantum gas, revealing for the first time strong variations in the nature of the sound wave as a function of temperature. At low energies, this energy travels via the collective movement of many particles moving in sync – essentially, as sound …
Automated Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) controlled by artificial intelligence First demonstration of fully autonomous, long-term SPM operation An Australian-German collaboration has demonstrated fully-autonomous SPM operation, applying artificial intelligence and deep learning to remove the need for constant human supervision. The new system, dubbed DeepSPM, bridges the gap between nanoscience, automation and artificial intelligence (AI), and firmly establishes the use of …
Ultrafast, multidimensional spectroscopy unlocks macroscopic-scale effects of quantum electronic correlations. Researchers found that low-energy and high energy states are correlated in a layered, superconducting material LSCO (lanthanum, strontium, copper, oxygen). Exciting the material with an ultrafast (<100fs), beam of near-infrared light produces coherent excitations lasting a surprisingly ‘long’ time of around 500 femtoseconds, originating from a quantum superposition of excited …
A mini-symposium on ultrafast laser spectroscopy last week brought together the ultrafast laser spectroscopy community in Australia and New Zealand, showcasing local ultrafast laser spectroscopy research and capabilities. Exciton Science and FLEET co-sponsored the Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy Mini-Symposium at Swinburne, which saw 45 researchers attending from 12 different unis/orgs. At FLEET, ultrafast spectroscopy is used to help understand the microscopic …
In January 2020 FLEET brought the 10th International Conference on Spontaneous Coherence in Excitonic Systems (ICSCE10) to Australia for the first time. Continuing this 15-year tradition from the global scientific community interested in various quantum phenomena, ICSCE10 was hosted at the Arts Centre Melbourne amidst smoke storms resulting from what was one of the worst bushfire seasons in Australia’s history. …
Self-forming quantum liquids on a silicon chip could revolutionise our understanding of turbulence and enable new technologies for precision navigation. Researchers at The University of Queensland have developed the first methods to bring together quantum liquids with modern silicon-chip based technology, allowing the observations of nanoscale quantum turbulence that mirrors the behaviour of a cyclone. Professor Warwick Bowen, from UQ’s …
—by Dr Shaun Johnstone (Monash University) and Dr Tapio Simula (Swinburne University of Technology) One of the first things we learn about the absolute temperature scale, measured in degrees Kelvin, is that it’s impossible to get temperatures below Absolute Zero. But in a recent pair of FLEET studies into turbulence, researchers were working in a regime of precisely that: negative …
Seminal, seventy-year-old theory of turbulence experimentally verified for first time Applications range from Jupiter’s Great Red Spot to electron movement in superconductors Images and video available Two Australian studies published this week offer the first proof of a 70-year-old theory of turbulence. “The studies confirm a seminal theory of the formation of large-scale vortices from turbulence in 2D fluid flow, …
• Abrupt onset of pairing points to best theories for describing ultra-cold ‘Fermi gases’ • Implications for understanding of superconductors, superfluids in future ultra low-energy electronic systems A FLEET/Swinburne study released this week resolves a long-standing debate about what happens at the microscopic level when matter transitions into a superconducting or superfluid state. Correlations between pairs of atoms in an …
FLEET’s Meera Parish has been named 2019 Outstanding Referee, the only one in Australia, by the influential American Physical Society (APS). The APS selected 143 Outstanding Referees for 2019, each of whom have demonstrated exceptional work in the assessment of manuscripts submitted to the Physical Review journals. The Outstanding Referee program recognises approximately 150 currently active referees each year, and …
Half of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses Ultra-fast laser physics key to development of future electronics The technique developed by Mourou and Strickland has had enormous impact across the fields of chemistry, physics and biology, and provides the basis for important …
Quantifying the dynamics and interactions of electronic systems is crucial for understanding the mechanisms that make them useful candidates for ultra-low energy electronics. We need to observe and measure the behaviour of electron interactions at a femtosecond scale (ie, at a few millionths of a billionth of a second). As a research tool, Optical Coherent Multidimensional Spectroscopy (CMDS) offers the …
Scaling symmetry in a 2D Fermi gas breaks down with strong interactions between particles Quantum gas studies unlock fundamental physics—with an immediate application A FLEET study of ultracold atomic gases – a billionth the temperature of outer space – unlocks new, fundamental quantum effects. The researchers at Swinburne University of Technology studied collective oscillations in ultracold atomic gases – identifying …
FLEET postdoc Dr Carlos Kuhn described his field of ultra-cold atomic science and the fundamental discoveries made in an interview with RRR science show Einstein a Go-Go. The research will take a huge step forward this year with the commissioning of a new ARC-funded quantum-gas microscope, which will bridge the microscopic (atomic) and macroscopic (visible) worlds. Carlos also described his …
Bridge between microscopic and macroscopic behaviour A new quantum-gas microscope facility at Swinburne University of Technology will allow studies of ultra-cold atomic gases, giving researchers the ability to image and manipulate single atoms. The facility will allow study of quantum effects at a macroscopic scale: a major unsolved issue in physics. To harness the full potential of such quantum materials, …
Recent theoretical studies at Monash University bring us a step closer to realistic ‘quantum batteries’. Such technology would depend on the energy difference offered by different quantum states, rather than on electrochemical changes, as is the case in traditional batteries. Quantum batteries also offer potential for vastly better thermodynamic efficiency, and ultra-fast charging time. The study, which was co-led by …
FLEET researchers undertake various research projects in the area of Light-Transformed Materials. If you have a project that would fit this theme, find information about a potential supervisor here: PROF. KRIS HELMERSON Ultracold atomic gases Biophysics Biotechnology A/PROF. MEERA PARISH Theory of strongly correlated phenomena in ultracold atomic gases and electron systems Superconductivity and superfluidity Lowdimensional systems Magnetotransport DR. AGUSTIN …
FLEET’s mission to create ultra-low energy electronics depends on an improved fundamental understanding of the electronic structure of atomically-thin, two-dimensional materials. We need to understand how electrons in the material interact with each other and also how they move and scatter through the crystal lattice. FLEET researchers using the vacuum ultraviolet the UV beamline 10.0.1 (HERS) at the Advanced Light …
A next-generation Bose-Einstein condensate apparatus being built at Monash University will allow bigger Bose-Einstein condensates to be created, and allow even higher resolution imaging of them. Researchers will also have better optical access to be able to manipulate the atoms within the condensate more precisely. The equipment will allow researchers to study non-equilibrium dynamics and quantum turbulence. FLEET Chief Investigator …
Researchers in this theme
