Abstract

Understanding New Complexities in Correlated Quantum Materials Using Resonant Photons

Strongly correlated quantum materials encompass a class of materials with emergent phenomena and novel functionalities that escapes the conventional description of quantum mechanics. Due to the interplay between the charge, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom, rich complexities of ground-state properties could arise and manifest themselves in 1. inhomogeneity of electronic spatial textures, 2. complex electronic, orbital, and magnetic structures and 3. coupled orders. Developing techniques to characterize, understand and control these complexities provides immense opportunities for harnessing functional quantum materials. In this talk, I will showcase our work focused on understanding and controlling these complexities by means of a combination of scattering, spectroscopy and imaging techniques based on synchrotron X-ray. Specifically, this talk will cover:

1. The complex microscopic spatial organizations of electronic textures such as magnetic fractals in NdNiO₃.
2. Identification of a complex chiral spin disproportionation in NdNiO₃.
3. Understanding the control pathway of functional electronic orders.

Biosketch

Jiarui Li is a LCLS-SIMES postdoctoral fellow in the Applied Physics department at Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. His research focuses on understanding competing degrees of freedom in oxide quantum materials using multimodal scattering, spectroscopy, imaging techniques. He obtained his B.S. from School of physics at Peking University in 2016. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2022, where he worked on understanding the emergent phenomena and electronic structure in oxide quantum materials. His Ph.D. thesis received recognition from Canadian Light Source with the G. Michael Bancroft Ph.D. Thesis Award. Currently, he continues his work on manipulating competing phases in low-dimensional oxide thin films.