CoE in Quantum Materials lays foundation for future materials technologies
Led by the University of Jyväskylä, the new Centre of Excellence in Quantum Materials (QMAT) applies modern quantum information methods to characterise quantum materials and seek ways to exploit their new properties in electronics and photonics applications.
The consortium is lead by Professor Tero Heikkilä from the Department of Physics and the Nanoscience Center at University of Jyväskylä. The consortium includes researchers from Aalto University, Tampere University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
The goals of the CoE include studying hybrid 2D materials, ferroelectricity, multiferroics, superconductivity, atomic-scale optics, spin liquids, fractional Chern insulators, the role of quantum geometry in characterising the response of quantum materials, preparing virtual materials with quantum computers, and finding device functionalities based on superconducting and/or ferroelectric hybrid structures.
All of our individual goals are truly challenging and ambitious, and achieving them requires a cooperation structure that is based on long-term funding, such as a CoE,” says Tero Heikkilä.
“We have a really strong consortium, and I am confident that we will achieve most of our goals and also something completely new and unexpected.”
The CoE’s basic research will advance Finland’s robust quantum technology sector, creating new types of materials and functionalities for use in electronics and photonics.
Nevertheless, at the heart of the CoE is the pure goal of finding out what kinds of electronic states of matter can exist,” says Heikkilä.
The Centre of Excellence in Quantum Materials complements the University of Jyväskylä's strong research in quantum technology. The University is part of the Finnish Quantum Flagship consortium and related doctoral pilot in quantum technology. One of the new profiling areas for research at the University of Jyväskylä is quantum simulations and measurements for nanotechnology (qSime), which applies quantum computing to the simulation of nanomaterials.