EAGER: SUPER: Light and Warm Polariton Driven Superconductors (PoDS)

EAGER项目的目的是利用光来控制电子流，从而在容易获得的条件下将电子材料变成零电阻导体-超导体。 在可接近的温度和压力下的超导性一直是量子物理和材料科学的关键研究目标之一。 一旦实现，它将对社会产生巨大的影响，从电网的能源效率到集成芯片的热管理和降低电力消耗。 该团队将进行理论-实验相结合的研究，探索实现这一目标的新途径，利用相干光（激光）通过将新型量子材料与专门设计的光子结构相结合，将电子“驱动”到超导状态。 此外，研究生和本科生将通过在凝聚态物理，量子光学，低维材料和纳米光子学的交叉学科前沿的密切理论实验合作，在广泛的国家的最先进的理论和实验工具和技术进行培训。技术摘要超导是现代凝聚态物理皇冠上的宝石。 尽管自20世纪50年代以来，人们已经了解了Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer超导体的基本机制，但更高的临界温度仍然是一个巨大的挑战，因为我们主要是在大自然赋予的材料属性的支配下。 然而，近年来，技术已经发展到对材料施加前所未有的控制，以改变甚至设计它们的特性。 受最近新的超导机制的理论发现，货车德瓦尔斯异质结构的突破以及复杂光子结构的进步的推动，该团队将探索一种潜在的更通用和实用的途径，以实现高Tc-极化激元驱动的超导体-其中高度可控的高温极化激元超流体为库珀对形成提供了一种新的机制。 该项目将发展一种新型光可控超导体的基本认识和关键技术，包括如何使用超轻超流体引入和控制附近电子之间的强配对势，电子带色散的影响和限制，以及维度对超导性的影响。 通过超导体中的Anderson-Higgs机制与粒子物理学中的Higgs机制之间的深刻联系，推动材料科学、量子光子学、凝聚态物理学、理论物理学以及潜在的粒子物理学等多个前沿研究领域的发展。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nontechnical AbstractThis EAGER project aims to utilize light to control electron flow, so as to turn an electronic material into a conductor of zero resistance--a superconductor--under readily accessible conditions. Superconductivity at accessible temperatures and pressure has been one of the key research objectives in quantum physics and materials science. Once realized, it would have enormous impact on society, from energy efficiency of the electrical grid to thermal management of integrated chips and reduced electrical consumption. The team will perform a combined theoretical-experimental study to explore a new pathway toward this goal, utilizing coherent light (lasers) to "drive" electrons into a superconducting state, via integrating novel quantum materials with specially designed photonic structures. In addition, graduate and undergraduate students will be trained on a wide range of state-of-the-art theoretical and experimental tools and techniques through a close theory-experiment collaboration at the cross-disciplinary cutting edge of condensed-matter physics, quantum optics, low-dimensional materials, and nano-photonics.Technical AbstractSuperconductivity is a crown jewel of modern condensed-matter physics. Although the fundamental mechanism of a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductor has been understood since the 1950s, higher critical temperature continues to be a grand challenge, as we have been mostly at the mercy of material properties given by nature. In recent years, however, technologies have been developed to exert unprecedented control over materials to alter or even to engineer their properties. Motivated by recent theoretical discoveries of new superconducting mechanisms, breakthroughs in van der Waals heterostructures, and advances in sophisticated photonic structures, the team will explore a potentially more versatile and practical pathway toward high Tc--polariton driven superconductors--where a highly controllable, high-temperature polariton superfluid provides a new mechanism for Cooper-pair formation. The project will develop the fundamental understanding and key technologies for a new type of superconductor controllable by light, including how to use an ultra-light superfluid to introduce and control strong pairing potentials between electrons in the proximity, effects and limitations of electron band dispersion, and the influence of dimensionality on superconductivity. It will advance multiple research frontiers spanning materials science, quantum photonics, condensed-matter physics, theoretical physics, and potentially particle physics through the deep connection between the Anderson-Higgs mechanism in superconductors and the Higgs mechanism in particle physics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.