“Engineering topological quantum physics at the atomic scale”

Dr. Seongshik Oh
Department of Physics and Astronomy,
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

Nov. 21 (Wed.), 03:00 PM
E6-2. 1st fl. #1323

Abstract:
Since the notion of topological insulator (TI) was envisioned about a decade ago, topology has become a new paradigm in condensed matter physics. Realization of topology as a generic property of materials has led to numerous predictions of unprecedented phenomena such as magnetic dipoles, axion electrodynamics, resistance-free conduction etc. However, only a very small subset of these predictions have been materialized in real materials, especially in the quantum regime. Here, I will show that defects have been the major culprit behind this slow progress. Once we suppress these defects using various thin film engineering tricks, a series of topological quantum effects such as quantized Faraday/Kerr rotations, quantum Hall effects, topological quantum phase transitions, zeroth Landau level physics etc. start to emerge above otherwise murky ocean of classical topological effects. We are now entering the age of topological quantum materials, but only as far as we can control the defects.