StrongLights · Controlling Photoinduced Transitions with Strong Light Pulses in Condensed Matter.
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-11-01 → 2020-10-31
- EU contribution
- €171,461
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Controlling Photoinduced Transitions with Strong Light Pulses in Condensed Matter.
Since the discovery of the quantum nature of light and matter, many researcher have focus their efforts to understand their interaction. There is no doubt that light is crucial for our current understanding of life since its interactions with biological matter enabled the conversion of the solar energy to the formation of chemical bonds, for example during the photosynthesis. Scientist investigated this phenomena in order to take advantage of the photoinduced phenomena to rational control desired properties in materials. The development of new theories and the rational understanding of the light-matter interactions enabled the invention of new technologies currently used broadly in our day-to-day life as for example the LEDS (light emitter diodes), light harvesting devices, or pieces of our electronic devices. This project focused in the rational and theoretical understanding on the effects of shooting a quantum material with ultrashort pulses at the near-infrared (IR) and ultra-violet (UV-VIS) photon laser. These class of materials present a very strong interactions between the electrons and the molecular/lattice vibration leading a multiple phase competition, i.e. photo-induced phase transition (PIPT). Tuning and controlling the opto-electronic properties of this kind funcional organic materials can lead many commercial applications such as in organic LEDs or organic photodetector industry. The overall objective of the StrongLights project is understand the key factors that govern the PIPT and how to control them using ultra-strong light pulses. Three scientific objectives has been stablished for the accomplishment of this project: 1) Theoretical and computational modelling of the low and high temperature phase of the (MeBr-dcnqi)2Cu molecular crystal using density functional theory (DFT). 2) Identify the key factors that govern the initial steps of the PIPT: exciton transfer, charge carrier diffusion and lattice modes dynamics. 3) To investigate the possibility to stabilise a desired phase by applying an IR strong pulse after the PIPT.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
In this proposed project “Controlling Photoinduced Transitions with Strong Light Pulses in Condensed Matter” (StrongLights), the experienced researcher Dr. Joaquim Jornet Somoza and the expert in the field, Prof. Angel Rubio of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD), in collaboration with top international experimental groups, will work with the aim of acquiring theoretical results in order to find novel electronic properties for future advances in nanoelectronics, photoelectronics and plasmonics. To do this, we will focus on the theoretical description of the ultrafast photoinduced phase transitions (PIPT) at multilevel time scales (from atto- to picoseconds) to establish a theoretical and computational platform to understand and control this non-equilibrium phenomena. We will perform state-of-the-art first-principles simulations using the most advanced exchange-correlation functionals developed in the host group. We will characterise the vibrational influence of the lattice in the optical and charge transport properties using many-body perturbation approaches such as the GW self-energy method and the Bethe-Salpeter equations, and real time propagation-time dependent density functional theory (P-TDDFT) to catch the non-linear dynamical processes involved in PIPT. Moreover, strong optical pulses have recently emerged as powerful tools to manipulate and control complex condensed matter systems with strongly correlated electrons. In this project we plan to go beyond by controlling electronic properties not only of the ground state, but for the first time on excited states. By mixing and matching different of light pulses, we will be able to create new meta-stable states that have new and unexpected properties that are different from any steady state having profound impacts in novel applications on condensed matter physics, material science, as well as nano- and bio-science.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV · MUNCHENCoordinatorGermany
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union