Light-Matter Control of Quantum Materials

M.A. Sentef1

1University of Bremen and Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Hamburg

Advances in time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopies have enabled us to follow the microscopic dynamics of quantum materials on femtosecond time scales. This gives us a glimpse into the inner workings of how complex, emergent functionalities of quantum many-body systems develop on ultrafast time scales or react to external forces. The ultimate dream of the community is to use light as a tuning parameter to create new states of matter on demand with designed properties and new functionalities, perhaps not achievable by other means. In this talk I will discuss recent progress in controlling and engineering properties of quantum materials through light-matter interaction [1,2]. I will highlight work on Floquet engineering — the creation of effective Hamiltonians by time-periodic drives — on sub-cycle time scales [3,4] combining theory and pump-probe experiments at the limits of energy and time resolution. I will then showcase recent theories on inducing superconductivity with light by employing enhanced light-matter interaction in the near-field involving polaritonic excitations [5,6].

1. A. de la Torre et al., Rev. Mod Phys. 93, 041002 (2021)
2. F. Schlawin, D. M. Kennes, M. A. Sentef, App. Phys. Rev. 9, 011312 (2022)
3. M. Schüler and M. A. Sentef, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elspec.2021.147121
4. S. Ito et al., Nature 616, 696-701 (2023), https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05850-x
5. C. J. Eckhardt et al., arXiv:2303.02176
6. S. Chattopadhyay et al., arXiv:2303.15355