3:45–5:00 pm
GCIS W301/303 929 E. 57th St
Speaker: Prof. Dmitri Basov, Dept. of Physics, Columbia University
Host: Asst. Prof. Andrew Higginbotham, Dept. of Physics (ahigginbotham@uchicago.edu)
Title: Probing and controlling quantum materials with nano-light
Abstract: For centuries, the diffraction limit stood as a seemingly insurmountable barrier preventing access to optical effects at length scales shorter than the wavelength of light. This is now in the past. Modern nano-photonics solutions routinely allow one to execute optical spectroscopy and imaging at the atomic scale. I will overview recent advances in condensed matter physics made by our group at Columbia using nano-optical methods for:
- controlling the superfluid density in unconventional superconductors1 (January 26, Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics)
and
- probing the physics of correlated electrons in layered van der Waals materials2 (January 27, James Franck Institute).
[1] Itai Keren et al. Cavity-altered superconductivity, Nature 2026, ArXiv:2505.17378;
[2] Francesco Ruta et al. Good plasmons in a bad metal, Science 387, 786 (2025) and Suheng Xu et al. [unpublished]
Dmitri N. Basov (PhD 1991) is a Higgins professor and Chair of the Department of Physics at Columbia University [http://infrared.cni.columbia.edu], the Director of the DOE Energy Frontiers Research Center on Programmable Quantum Materials [since 2018] and co-director of Max Planck Society – New York Center for Nonequilibrium Quantum Phenomena [2018-2030]. He has served as a professor (1997-2016) and Chair (2010-2015) of Physics, University of California San Diego. Research interests include: physics of quantum materials, superconductivity, two-dimensional materials, infrared nano-optics. Prizes and recognitions: Sloan Fellowship (1999), Genzel Prize (2014), Humboldt research award (2009), Frank Isakson Prize, American Physical Society (2012), Moore Investigator (2014, 2020), K.J. Button Prize (2019), Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (U.S. Department of Defense, 2019), National Academy of Sciences (2020).
About the JFI Colloquium: The James Franck Institute Colloquium is a monthly event inviting distinguished scholars from research institutions around the globe to share creative, groundbreaking research at the intersection of chemistry, physics, and materials science. As an interdisciplinary institution, the JFI welcomes researchers and students from a wide variety of scientific disciplines to attend and partake in lively discussion. Colloquium speakers are nominated by JFI faculty and selected annually by the colloquium committee. Find the full calendar on the JFI website.