The collective behavior of matter is one of the central topics of modern science and technology
Collective quantum phenomena in materials arise from the interplay between quantum mechanics and interactions in many-particle systems — i.e., cooperative behaviors that cannot be predicted from the properties of individual electrons.
In recent years, the study of collective quantum phenomena revealed a whelm of new physical systems and properties, that go beyond the traditional strong electronic correlation, and that casted the term quantum materials. Research in this area boosted with the discovery of graphene, the single layer of carbon atoms, awarded by Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010. The search for new states of matter due to collective quantum phenomena is a central challenge at the intersection of basic and applied science, and a crucial crossroad for technological innovation.
The IOM research line Quantum Materials addresses quantum science and technology via a coordinated ‘joint-venture’ between theory, growth and advanced characterization, exploiting lab-tools, large-scale experimental facilities and high-performance computing.
This combined approach allows to study the fundamental electronic and vibrational properties of quantum systems both in and out of equilibrium, with particular reference to materials with strong electronic correlation, strong spin-orbit coupling, high-Tc superconductors, and Weyl systems.
The ultimate goal of this research line is to design, synthetize and control materials and heterointerfaces with properties ‘on-demand’ , hosting the desired functional properties, and reaching in quantum materials the richness and complexity obtained in oxides and semiconductors
