Three physics professors from the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have won a grant as a part of the National Science Foundation's Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) program. The grant expands the research being done at the Illinois MRSEC, adding work aligned with NSF's Big Ideas initiative, which defines 10 long-term research ideas for the future of science and engineering.
The award funds a focused team comprised of the three faculty members - Professors Vidya Madhavan and Dale Van Harlingen and associate Professor Taylor Hughes - as well as one postdoctoral researcher and two graduate research assistants.
The successful proposal is on the topic of "Higher-order topological phases of matter" and falls under the Quantum Leap pillar of the NSF's Big Ideas.
The Quantum Leap idea focuses on using quantum mechanics to observe, manipulate, and control the behavior of particles and energy at atomic and subatomic scales. This research influences technologies for sensing, computing, modeling, and communications.
"[The grant] has enabled our team to rapidly adapt to a new scientific opportunity so that we can be at the forefront of this newly developing field of higher order topological phases of matter," Hughes said. "Usually the timescales involved with securing funding and re-tooling experiments can take a year or more, but we will be able to begin work only after a few months."
This particular award will allow the group to focus on a singular project, which is not always the case.
"I think we are all excited to have the opportunity to work on such a well-defined, focused project together," Hughes said. "It's not often the case that you have the chance to explore a high-impact, and possibly risky project with a strong, coordinated effort, and we are eagerly anticipating our next few years of research."
This call for proposals was open only to researchers at institutions that are home to MRSECs, such as the existing Illinois MRSEC, of which there are only twenty in the U.S.