Advances in materials science are instrumental to the success of each industrial revolution of the modern world, including the current quantum revolution. To achieve the technological advantages rooted in the basis of quantum mechanics, the United States established the National Quantum Initiative which included quantum materials and the formation of a “quantum-smart†workforce. In this project, the Principal Investigator aims to address both requirements through an integrated research and education plan centered around enhancing materials whose physical properties are robust against deformation. Therefore, the project addresses the specific need for experimental studies of materials with technologies and applications in light controlled electronic and photonics devices. Through measurements under the influence of large electric and magnetic fields, the Principal Investigator and his team will assess the performance for increased reliability, speed and durability leading to quantum-enabled communications, computing, and sensing. Furthermore, the comprehensive education plan broadly impacts the scientific community and integrates the research to increase participation in high magnetic field science, especially from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) physics and materials science communities.
The research plan merges nonlinear optics and plasmonics to explore important scientific challenges such as doping of topological semimetals, the influence of high magnetic fields on Dirac and Weyl semimetals and the existence of Dirac and Weyl semimetals as naturally occurring negative index materials in the technologically important infrared regime. Nonlinear optical spectroscopy techniques in the infrared to terahertz range will be used to study how the optical properties of topological semimetals are enhanced by: reducing dimensionality (bulk vs. monolayer); patterning into metasurfaces or hybrid metamaterials; and applying external fields (DC, optical/THz or magnetic field). The Principal Investigator will also broadly impact the scientific community through an integrated research and education plan that: distributes, low-cost, long duration pulsed high magnetic field (up to 10 T) apparatus to the HBCU Physics Community for increased participation in High Magnetic Field science; integrates the apparatus into the physics curricula at Howard and 4 partner HBCUs; and improves the physics identity of Black undergraduate Physics students through workshops hosted at Howard and the National Society of Black Physics Meeting. Further outreach to the scientific community includes the creation of a YouTube and Slack channels specific to development of low-cost pulsed magnetic field apparatus.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
