Faculty Name: Antia S. Botana
Theoretical
Research Area: Nanoscience and Materials Physics
Research Title: Computational design of novel superconducting materials
Research/Project Short Description: Superconductivity is a quantum state of matter whereby electrons move through a material without resistance. Superconducting materials are of paramount importance to different technologies: from magnetic resonance imaging machines to accelerators for high-energy physics, and magnetic levitating trains. However, their usefulness is often restricted by the prohibitively low temperatures at which superconductivity usually emerges. Increasing this transition temperature and discovering new superconductors has been limited by the lack of consensus as to what causes superconductivity in some classes of materials. One of these classes is represented by copper oxides whose discovery in the 1980s had a profound influence on physics as they could superconduct at a higher temperature than any material known at the time. This project will use advanced computational and theoretical methods to investigate nickel and palladium oxides - promising candidate materials for superconductivity based on the proximity of nickel and palladium to copper in the periodic table. The goal of the project is to discover a new family of superconductors while providing insights into the origin of high-temperature superconductivity. You will develop computational approaches suited for superconducting materials and perform simulations to establish the differences and similarities between the physics of nickel, palladium, and copper oxides. This project can be continued as your PhD topic. See some of our recent publications on this topic on our webpage or Google Scholar (Antia S. Botana).
Faculty Name: Antia S. Botana
Theoretical
Research Area: Nanoscience and Materials Physics
Research Title: Discovery and Control of Skyrmions in 2D van der Waals Magnets
Research/Project Short Description: Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin textures with exciting quantum properties towards information and neuro-inspired technologies. To date, the experimentally known skyrmionic platforms are restricted to bulk crystals and metallic multilayer films. The ultimate goal of this project is to realize skyrmions in two-dimensional (2D) and van der Waals layered materials and investigate emergent properties arising from their reduced dimensions. The project will use advanced computational methods (from density functional theory to Monte-Carlo) to study transition metal dihalide monolayers and their moiré superlattices as a platform for skyrmion realization. The goal of the project is to establish what hallmark characteristics are important for skyrmion formation in the monolayer and few-layer limit. You will be able to explore different mechanisms for skyrmion realization using computational techniques to achieve this goal: from inversion symmetry breaking in ferromagnetic monolayers to twisting. This project can be continued as your PhD topic. See some of our recent publications on this topic on our webpage or Google Scholar (Antia S. Botana).
Faculty Name: Mouzhe Xie
Experimental
Research Area: Biological and Soft Matter Physics, Nanoscience and Materials Physics
Research Title: Experimental Quantum BioSensing (EQuBS) lab -- quantum metrology and high precision measurement using nitrogen-vacancy defects in diamond crystal
Research/Project Short Description: As a new lab, we always have cross-disciplinary research projects available to postdocs, graduates, and undergrads! Please refer to https://sites.google.com/view/equbs-lab/opportunities for the latest update. Please email Prof. Mouzhe Xie (mouzhe.xie@asu.edu) for inquiries and to discuss details.
Faculty Name: Mouzhe Xie
Experimental
Research Area: Biological and Soft Matter Physics, Nanoscience and Materials Physics
Research Title: Experimental Quantum BioSensing (EQuBS) lab -- quantum metrology and high precision measurement using nitrogen-vacancy defects in diamond crystal
Research/Project Short Description: As a new lab, we always have cross-disciplinary research projects available to postdocs, graduates, and undergrads! Please refer to https://sites.google.com/view/equbs-lab/opportunities for the latest update. Please email Prof. Mouzhe Xie (mouzhe.xie@asu.edu) for inquiries and to discuss details.
Faculty Name: Richard Lebed
Theoretical
Research Area: Cosmology, Particle, and Astrophysics
Research Title: The Diabatic Dynamical Diquark Model
Research/Project Short Description: The period since 2003 has provided the first confirmed evidence for hadrons that do not fit into the known categories of quark-antiquark mesons or three-quark baryons. (An elementary knowledge of these particle categories and their basic features is a required starting point for the student.) Dozens of tetraquark and pentaquark states have so far been discovered. The internal structure of these states, however, remains a topic of theoretical debate, and several competing physical pictures have been proposed, each with its strengths and deficiencies. In the “dynamical diquark model”, a tetraquark consists of two bound quasiparticles: a two-quark diquark and a two-antiquark antidiquark. The purpose of this rotation is to become versed in the published literature of models for ordinary hadrons that are most closely related to the dynamical diquark model, namely, color flux-tube models and Born-Oppenheimer (BO) potentials that have been applied in the past to ordinary hadrons, and to learn how one can go beyond the BO approximation (“diabatic”) when more than one substructure is possible. Time permitting, the student will study the details of how the mixing of substructures in the diabatic model is simulated using code.
Faculty Name: Maxim Sukharev
Theoretical
Research Area: Nanoscience and Materials Physics
Research Title: Electrodynamics at complex nanoscale interfaces: multiscale modeling and applications
Research/Project Short Description: The research program described below is continuously funded through Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Naval Research. There will be two/three RA positions available soon. Successful candidates must first go through the research rotation to demonstrate their commitment and skills.
The scientific community has recently shown avid interest in the intriguing behavior of molecular systems interacting with spatially confined electromagnetic radiation within optical cavities. This interest stems from the promise that such interactions affect chemical dynamics and thus could be used in innovative applications in chemistry and materials science. While certain manifestations of these phenomena are well-understood, the effects of the cavity environment on chemical processes and transport mechanisms still present a vibrant frontier for research and discovery.
The research program aims to venture beyond traditional observational studies and build a more robust bridge between empirical data and theoretical predictions. By doing so, it aspires to shed new light on the mysteries of polaritonic chemistry. To that end, the program integrates theoretical and computational approaches to develop quantitative multiscale numerical tools for polaritonic chemistry that go far beyond simple qualitative modeling.
Theoretical models, despite their apparent simplicity, provide the conceptual mathematical framework that underpins our understanding of polaritonic phenomena. These models guide our exploration and help us make sense of the rich tapestry of interactions. Complementing these, computational studies offer a controlled environment where we can simulate complex systems under various conditions and systematically test theoretical predictions.
The research program aspires to weave these threads together, integrating computational electrodynamics with the quantum dynamics of large molecular systems. This combined approach will be used to investigate collective optical effects in plasmonic cavities of diverse configurations. Notably, the research methodology offers some unique advantages. For instance, it allows for the direct examination of short pulses and direct access to various transients on differing time scales, including those associated with chemical dynamics. Moreover, the approach facilitates the exploration of strong coupling effects induced in chiral nano-cavities.
In summary, the research initiative aims to harness the power of computational and theoretical approaches to drive forward our understanding of polaritonic chemistry, and in doing so, open new avenues for discovery and application in chemistry and materials science. Advancing multiscale modeling on a quantitative level improves our ability to utilize computers for a cost-efficient chemical/biological sensors design. Future applications are envisioned for chemistry control in pre-designed plasmonic systems, nanoscale light sources in mid-infrared for chemical sensing and detection, infrared single-photon detection, and infrared counter measures.
Faculty Name: Onur Erten
Theoretical
Research Area: Nanoscience and Materials Physics
Research Title: Theory of bilayer quantum spin liquids
Research/Project Short Description: This project aims to study bilayers of spin-orbital extensions of Kitaev model. In particular, the research will involve building new models that preserve partial integrability and obtaining the phase diagrams via various methods.
Faculty Name: Onur Erten
Theoretical
Research Area: Nanoscience and Materials Physics
Research Title: Theory of topological Kondo insulators with long range interactions
Research/Project Short Description: This project will involve building exactly solvable interacting model of topological Kondo insulators with long range interactions.
Faculty Name: Rogier Windhorst
Experimental
Research Area: Cosmology, Particle, and Astrophysics
Research Title: Cosmology and Astrophysics Research with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes
Research/Project Short Description: The student will study current hot topics in cosmology, the epoch of cosmic reionization, star-formation in a cosmological context, galaxy formation and evolution, gravitational lensing via galaxy clusters and cluster caustic transits, and the growth of super-massive black holes in the centers of galaxies. The student will will get hands-on experience and learn how to reduce and analyze Hubble and JWST data. We meet with the whole research group once a week (currently Fr. 1:30-3:30 pm in GWC-505) to assign projects, train students, monitor progress, and discuss specific research aspects, skills, and progress on papers.
Faculty Name: Oliver Beckstein
Theoretical
Research Area: Biological and Soft Matter Physics
Research Title: Brute-force sampling of small molecule conformational landscapes
Research/Project Short Description: "Small molecules" describes the incredibly vast number of organic molecules with molecular weight < 1000 dalton that can regulate a biological process. Most pharmacological drugs are small molecules and hence understanding their behavior, such as how they interact with solvent or proteins, is crucial in drug development. Due to the presence of rotatable bonds, small molecules can adapt multiple distinct conformations but understanding which of these conformations are the most likely ones, i.e., the ones with the lowest free energy, is a difficult problem. In this project you will create a computational workflow to exhaustively enumerate small molecule conformers and then calculate their approximate free energy. You will then adapt or develop an algorithm to enumerate the minima in this high dimensional free energy landscape. In this project you will learn to apply statistical mechanics to molecular systems and to learn to write scientific code in the Python programming language.
Faculty Name: Ricardo Alarcon
Experimental
Research Area: Cosmology, Particle, and Astrophysics
Research Title: The Electric Dipole Moment of the Neutron
Research/Project Short Description: We are presently working in mounting an experiment in Los Alamos National Laboratory searching for a non-zero electric dipole moment of the neutron (nEDM), whose possible existence is of fundamental interest and would significantly challenge theoretical extensions of the Standard Model (SM). The sensitivity
reach of the nEDM experiment represents an improvement of about one order of magnitude with respect to the present sensitivity level. The discovery of a neutron EDM well above the SM value would be truly revolutionary and a significant challenge for theories of physics that go beyond the SM. This project is ideal for a graduate student looking for a Ph.D. thesis project.
Faculty Name: Tanmay Vachaspati
Theoretical
Research Area: Cosmology, Particle, and Astrophysics
Research Title: Classicalization and Quantumization
Research/Project Short Description: The project is to study how general quantum states may evolve into pure (or nearly pure) coherent states and the converse. Experience with programming in C will be necessary.
Faculty Name: Jose Menendez
Theoretical
Research Area: Nanoscience and Materials Physics
Research Title: Semiconductor Equations using Polylogarithms
Research/Project Short Description: The purpose of this research is to develop an approach to the solution of the coupled semiconductor equations that transitions smoothly from the Boltzmann to the Fermi Dirac limit and is capable of simulating the operation of semiconductor devices at room and cryogenic temperatures. The approach must be compatible with current algorithms for the numerical solution of the equations.
Faculty Name: Nicholas Rolston
Theoretical
Research Area: Nanoscience and Materials Physics
Research Title: Inorganic Metal Halide Perovskites for Direct Alphavoltaic Converters
Research/Project Short Description: One of the key drawbacks of photovoltaic devices is the intermittency of power generation based on limited solar radiation. Radioactive sources that involve alpha particle emitting isotopes have continuous decay processes with long half-life can provide a source of extended and reliable power generation if coupled with long-lasting materials/devices for alphavoltaics. Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) are a rising star in the next generation of photovoltaic materials with lab-reported power conversion efficiencies rivaling that of incumbent silicon technology after just over ten years of research. Furthermore, MHPs hold the potential for making high-performance, low-cost devices through solution-processing of Earth-abundant materials in polycrystalline phases compatible with in-line methods such as roll-to-roll processing. The bandgap is highly tunable based on replacing constituents of the ABX3 lattice structure, most notably through replacing the X-site with Br (or Cl) in place of I to increase the band gap over a range of nearly 2 eV.
Although MHPs have been extensively studied in photovoltaic applications, they also have showed significant promise in radiation-based gamma detectors and space environments due to the inherent radiation hardness of the large atomic number constituents. MHPs have also been developed in fully inorganic phases using CsPbI3 and CsPbBr3 phases that exhibit superior thermal stability compared to the hybrid organic-inorganic counterparts. The Cs, Pb, and I/Br components are expected to be more stable under alpha (and other forms of) radiation compared to many of the alternative materials that have been used in direct alphavoltaic converters (DACs) to date.
This project will involve solution-based processing of inorganic metal halide perovskites and measurement of structural, ionic, and mechanical changes along with interactions of radiation and operational conditions with associated structural and mechanical robustness of charge transport layers/electrodes and interfaces for DAC applications.