Condensed Matter Physics

Welcome to the Condensed Matter Physics Group (A. V. Balatsky, J. Budnick, E. Dormidontova, N. Dutta, G. Fernando, D. S. Hamilton, J. N. Hancock, W. Hines, M. Jain, B. Sinkovic, I. Sochnikov, P. Volkov, B. O. Wells), where research covers many areas of current focus in the CMP community. They can be broadly grouped into:

Quantum Matter Physics:

  • Strongly correlated materials: complex oxides, metal insulator transitions, phase separation, cluster studies of Hubbard-like models, intrinsically inhomogenous materials, effects of strain and doping, magnetoresistance, charge-ordering behavior.
  • Magnetism: first principles electronic structure calculations, half-metallic ferromagnets, spintronics, ultra-thin antiferromagnetic films, exchange coupling, magnetic domain structure, surface magnetism, magnetic-nanoparticles
  • Superconductivity: high Tc superconductors (cuperates and Fe-based), other novel superconductors, multiple phases with competing ground states.
  • Multiferroic materials: film growth, structure-property relations in bulk, thin film, and nanocomposites; atomic domain structure.

Soft Matter Physics:

  • Complex fluids, colloids, synthetic and biological polymers, liquid crystals and nanomaterials, solution properties, mechanical response of networks and gels, adhesion and lubrication, self-assembly.

Photonics:

  • Semiconductor optoelectronic devices and telecommunication systems including photonic logic devices, fiber lasers, and, quantum dot based.

Research is carried out in several laboratories in the Physics Department and Institute of Materials Science. There is a strong component of research done at national and international laboratories utilizing cutting-edge facilities at: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Lab, Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Canadian Light Source and the Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland). There is significant ongoing collaboration with scientists at these and other laboratories as well as industrial laboratories.