Strongly Driven Quantum Materials
Dr. David Hsieh
California Institute of Technology
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Faculty Host: Nandini Trivedi
Abstract: Driving strongly correlated electron systems far from equilibrium can lead to fundamentally new many-body phenomena that are thermally inaccessible. In this talk, I will describe a series of recent experiments that leverage advanced ultrafast optical spectroscopic techniques to uncover transient properties of Mott insulators driven by intense electromagnetic fields. By tailoring the characteristics of the electromagnetic field, I will show how different out-of-equilibrium phenomena can be selectively realized. In particular, I will highlight the control of magnetic order using resonant driving, the nonlinear production of electron-hole pairs via off-resonant driving, and coherent “Floquet” engineering of electronic band structures and optical properties via far off-resonant driving.
More about Prof. Hsieh:
Prof. David Hsieh is an experimental condensed matter physicist whose research focuses on macroscopic quantum electronic phases of matter in solid state systems. In particular, Prof. Hsieh is interested in developing novel nonlinear optics, time-resolved ultrafast optics and angle-resolved photoemission based spectroscopic probes to search for exotic topological and symmetry-broken quantum phases of matter. Prof. Hsieh earned his B.S in Physics and Mathematics from Stanford University in 2003 and his Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University in 2009 where he worked on both neutron scattering studies of highly frustrated magnets as well as synchrotron-based spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of topological insulators. From 2009 to 2012 Prof. Hsieh was a Pappalardo Postdoctoral Fellow in Physics at MIT. There he developed several table-top laser-based techniques to study the ultrafast opto-electronic properties of topological insulators and wider classes of correlated spin-orbit coupled systems. He joined the Caltech faculty in 2012. Prof. Hsieh is the recipient of a William L. McMillan Award in condensed matter physics, a Sloan Research Fellowship, a Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers, and a Brown Investigator Award.
