Prof. Fausti Receives Prestigious Grant for Pioneering Study on Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics of light-matter Hybrids
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF) Supports Groundbreaking Research at the Chair of Solid State Physics at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen Nuremberg (FAU).
We are thrilled to announce that Prof. Fausti’s group has been awarded a prestigious research grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The grant, titled “Experimental Investigations of the Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics of Solid Materials Coupled with Optical Cavities,” will allow the team to study the thermodynamics of complex quantum materials such as high temperature superconductors and charge density wave materials embedded into resonant optical cavities.
“Thanks to the GBMF we will have the resources to explore the thermodynamics of complex quantum materials, hybridized with different cavity geometries.” says Prof. Fausti. “We will combine plasmonic nanostructures and tuneable cryogenic macroscopic cavities to enhance the coupling between light and specific excitations in matter and we will be able to develop a new spectroscopic tool capable of measuring the energy stored in phonons, magnons and electrons.”
This significant grant will enable the team to conduct pioneering research which will pave the way to a functional design of optical cavities capable of increasing the impact of light matter coupling in solid state complex quantum materials. The static and time domain Raman characterization of nanopatterned samples embedded in cryogenic optical cavities will allow us to deliver the best strategies to achieve an effective and selective coupling of optical cavities to material modes.
If successful, this program will lead to a new class of hybrid materials characterized by unconventional thermodynamics which may provide the means to stabilize quantum cooperative matter phase in conditions where standard thermodynamic constraints forbid them. Conceivably, the program proposed could lead to the development of light matter hybrid schemes capable of stabilizing superconducting fluctuations at temperature and pressure closer to atmospheric values.
“I have an immense sense of gratitude towards the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for their trust and support in this ambitious endeavor.” concludes Prof. Fausti.