HQOC/ITAMP Joint Quantum Sciences Seminar
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
NOTE: Special Location: Science Center, Lecture Hall D
Prof. Nuh Gedik, MIT
Shining light on Topological Insulators
Topological insulators are novel materials that do not conduct electricity in their bulk
but possess exceptional conducting electronic states on their surface. These surface
electrons have a number of highly unusual characteristics: (i) they behave like massless
relativistic particles similar to photons (ii) their spin is locked perpendicular to their
momentum and (iii) this state is robust against moderate disorder. Understanding and
characterizing unique properties of these materials can lead to novel applications such as
current induced magnetization or extremely robust quantum memory bits. In this talk, I
will first give a brief introduction to these materials and then describe our recent
experiments in which we used ultrashort laser pulses to probe and control properties of
the topological surface states. Utilizing the short duration of these pulses, we succeeded
in capturing femtosecond movies of the electronic energy bands in a three dimensional
manner. These movies reveal an exotic hybrid state between electrons and light, which was
predicted theoretically but has never been observed in solids before.
Student Presentation by Stefan Pabst from 4:00-4:10 PM
Refreshments Served from 4:10-4:30 PM
Guest Presentation from 4:30-6:00 PM
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Clare Ploucha
Temporary Faculty Assistant to Professors Lukin & Greiner and their labs
Department of Physics
17 Oxford St., Lyman 324A
Cambridge, MA 02138
P. (617) 496-2544
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