Call for Papers

Please contact the symposium organizers with questions.

Quantum materials host a wide range of many-body and topological phenomena that are promising for next-generation technologies. From unconventional superconductivity to topologically protected edge modes, the remarkable physics of quantum materials emerges from the complex interactions between spin, charge, lattice, orbital degrees of freedom and the topological aspects of their wave functions. These materials host multiple quantum phases that can be independently accessed by external perturbations such as electromagnetic fields, pressure, strain, and chemical doping. The search for new ways to create and control their macroscopic properties keeps improving our fundamental understanding of the interactions among the underlying degrees of freedom, which in turn may lead to new functionalities. One promising route to understand and control quantum materials is through ultrafast light-matter interactions. Photoinduced nonequilibrium states have functionally relevant properties which are not accessible at thermal equilibrium. Given the scale of recent developments and activity in this field, this symposium aims at promoting communication among researchers investigating theoretically and experimentally (i) the fundamental linear and nonlinear optical properties of quantum materials using ultrafast spectroscopy, (ii) their fabrication by using physical and chemical approaches and (iii) their applications in different areas of materials science, condensed matter physics, and device engineering for photonics, optoelectronics and quantum technologies.

The symposium will primarily focus on ultrafast light-matter interactions to control the macroscopic properties of van der Waals materials, including - but not limited to - 2D heterostructures and strongly correlated systems. We will focus on the experimental and theoretical aspects for the investigation of a variety of nonequilibrium effects, such as electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions in exciton and spin dynamics. Finally, we will also discuss different approaches for synthesizing quantum materials at the nanoscale, and for exploring dynamical decoupling of microscopic degrees of freedom, light-induced magnetization and superconductivity, photon-dressed topological states, as well as nonlinear optical effects in ultracompact systems.

Topics will include:

• Ultrafast exciton and spin dynamics in 2D semiconductors and heterostructures
• Ultrafast electronic/optical/magnetic properties of quantum materials
• Ultrafast dynamics in strongly correlated materials
• Topological phenomena, surface and edge states in quantum materials
• Ultrafast techniques for characterizing quantum materials
• Tunable photon emission from quantum materials
• Hybrid quasiparticles and mixed light-matter states
• Metasurfaces and optical devices from quantum materials
• Photonic and optoelectronic devices based on quantum materials
• Ultrafast plasmonics and polaritonics in hybrid quantum materials
• Exfoliation, growth and synthesis techniques for the fabrication of quantum materials
• First principles, charge transport and electromagnetic modeling of devices based on quantum materials
• Analytical methods for the description of ultrafast light-matter interactions in quantum materials

• A tutorial complementing this symposium is tentatively planned.

Invited Speakers (tentative):

• Dmytro Afanasiev (Radboud Universiteit, Netherlands)
• Unai Atxitia (Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, Spain)
• Youn Jue (Eunice) Bae (Columbia University, USA)
• Daniele Brida (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
• Andrea Caviglia (University of Geneva, Swaziland)
• Alexei Chernikov (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany)
• Elisabetta Collini (Università di Padova, Italy)
• Stefano Dal Conte (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
• Alberto de la Torre Duran (Northwestern University, USA)
• Steffen Michaelis de Vasconcellos (Universität Münster, Germany)
• Giulia Grancini (Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy)
• Antonija Grubišic Cabo (University of Groningen, Netherlands)
• Deep Jariwala (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
• Aaron Kelly (Dalhousie University, Canada)
• Dante Kennes (Aachen University, Germany)
• Peter Kraus (Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography, Netherlands)
• Xiaoqin (Elaine) Li (The University of Texas at Austin, USA)
• Ermin Malic (Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany)
• Sheng Meng (Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)
• Prineha Narang (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
• Shovon Pal (National Institute of Science Education and Research, India)
• Eva Pogna (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
• Su-Ying Quek (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
• Archana Raja (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA)
• Claus Ropers (Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Germany)
• Chong-Yu Ruan (Michigan State University, USA)
• Shawn Sederberg (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
• Michael Sentef (Max Planck Institute for the Structural and Dynamics of Matter, Germany)
• Klaas-Jan Tielrooij (Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Netherlands)

Symposium Organizers