Investigating interaction, superposition, and entanglement of quantum states in strongly correlated and topological materials that carry the charge, spin, lattice and orbital degrees of freedom provide a wealth of knowledge for quantum energy and information sciences. In this talk, I’ll present my recent work on functional quantum crystals that benefited from developments of both spectroscopy techniques and theoretical understandings. In specific, I’ll focus on (1) quantum-electronic-coherence bounded topological state in iron chalcogenides, which lead to potential topological superconductivity and Majorana zero modes for error-free quantum computing; (2) correlation-driven micro-magnetism in Kagome magnets that tunes topological bandgap and allows a detection via electrical responses near room temperature; (3) a new method for three-dimensional modification and device fabrication of quantum crystals using Focused Ion Beam. These examples point to a novel platform for manipulating emergent phenomena in strongly correlated and topological materials relevant to future applications.

Li et al., Nat. Mater. (arXiv:2012.07893); Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 196604 (2019);
Appl. Phys. Lett. 115, 173507 (2019); Sci. Adv. 5, eaap7349 (2019); Sci. Adv. 5, aav7686 (2019)
 

Dr. Yangmu Li obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in 2017 and is currently a Research Associate in Condensed Matter Physics and Material Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory. He is an independently funded Principal Investigator at the DOE Center for Functional Nanomaterials and at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Li is interested in correlated and topological single-crystalline materials. His experimental techniques including single crystal synthesis, neutron/X-ray spectroscopy, muon spin rotation, high-magnetic-field charge transport, electron microscopy, and Focused Ion Beam.