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Abstract

The ability to precisely tune quantum material properties at ultrafast (i.e., sub-picosecond) timescales is key to opening new routes toward high-speed optoelectronic, spintronic, and quantum devices. Ultrashort laser pulses have the potential to engineer various interactions at the meso- and nano-scale, steer phase transitions along preferential pathways, and coherently control structure-function relationships in solids. This tailored quantum material design by light relies on different manifestations of the light-matter interaction, requiring an exquisite control over the properties of the light field itself. In this talk, I will discuss how the laser excitation of specific collective modes can yield new forms of nonequilibrium functional control in quantum materials, leading to the modification of optical, magnetic, ferroelectric, and topological properties. In particular, I will focus on the coherent excitation of phonon modes as a platform to induce symmetry-breaking phase transitions and I will describe how the resonant driving of excitons can give rise to exotic states of matter that are absent in thermodynamic equilibrium. Finally, I will highlight the potential of novel driving schemes in the terahertz range, which enable the realization of efficient coherent energy transfer among spin waves.

About the speaker

Edoardo Baldini received his Ph.D. in Physics from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 2017 and then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) until the end of 2021. He joined the faculty of the Department of Physics at the University of Texas at Austin in January 2022. His research lies at the intersection of quantum condensed matter physics and optical science, and is driven by the aim to understand and manipulate complex materials and their emergent quantum phases. His discoveries led him to receive various prizes, including the Keck Foundation Research Award, the IBM Prize in Condensed Matter Physics, the American Physical Society Carl E. Anderson Prize in Laser Science, and the American Chemical Society Young Investigator Award.