Research opportunities are currently available for theoretical and experimental investigations of topological materials and structures. Currently, we are interested in exploring circular photogalvanic effects and surface currents in topological insulators, Weyl semimetals, and other topological phases under the influence of electrical gating and applied magnetic fields.  Understanding the control of spin-momentum locked currents will enable opto-spintronic devices for various sensing, communications, and computing applications. Facilities for conducting research include materials synthesis systems, device microfabrication tools, and sophisticated instrumentation for the characterization of the optical, electrical and magnetic properties of the materials and devices in varying magnetic fields (0-9T) and temperatures (1.6K - 300K).

References:

Yu Pan, et al.  “Helicity dependent photocurrent in electrically gated (Bi1-xSbx)2Te3 thin films” Nature Communications 8, 1037 (2018) 

J. Besbas, K. Banerjee, J. Son, Y. Wang, Y. Wu, M. Brahlek, N. Koirala, J. Moon, S. Oh and H. Yang, "Helicity-Dependent Photovoltaic Effect in Bi2Se3 Under Normal Incident Light," Advanced Optical Materials, vol. 4, pp. 1642-1650, 2016.

S. Luo, L. He and M. Li, "Spin-momentum locked interaction between guided photons and surface electrons in topological insulators," Nature Communications, vol. 8, p. 2141, 15 Dec 2017.

key words

Topological materials; Topological insulators; Weyl semimetals; Circular photogalvanic effect; Surface currents; Spin-momentum locking; Topological states; Quantum Hall insulators; Spintronics

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants