Columbia Quantum Initiative News

A team of researchers from Columbia University, City University of New York, the University of Central Florida (UCF), and Tohoku University and the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan, have directly observed a rare quantum effect that produces a repeating butterfly-shaped energy spectrum, confirming the longstanding prediction of this quantum fractal energy structure called Hofstadter’s butterfly. The study, which focused on moiré-patterned graphene, is published in the May 15, 2013, Advance Online Publication (AOP) of Nature.

Researchers discover that electrons mimic light in graphene, confirming a 2007 prediction – their finding may enable new low power electronics and lead to new experimental probes.

When it comes to conducting ultrafine research on a nanoscale, even one speck of dust could short out a piece of microelectronics operating at the atomic level.

Researchers at Columbia Engineering, experts at manipulating matter at the nanoscale, have made an important breakthrough in physics and materials science, recently reported in Nature Nanotechnology. Working with colleagues from Princeton and Purdue Universities and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, the team has engineered “artificial graphene” by recreating, for the first time, the electronic structure of graphene in a semiconductor device.

In a new study, researchers have fabricated the first superatomic 2-D semiconductor, a material whose basic units aren't atoms but superatoms—atomic clusters that exhibit some of the properties of one or more individual atoms.

A Columbia University-led international team of researchers has developed a technique to manipulate the electrical conductivity of graphene with compression, bringing the material one step closer to being a viable semiconductor for use in today’s electronic devices.

In a highly interdisciplinary collaboration, researchers across Columbia Engineering, Columbia University Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Normal University, and the University of Copenhagen have upended conventional wisdom, synthesizing the first molecule capable of insulating at the nanometer scale more effectively than a vacuum barrier. 

Experiments track a simple molecule dissociating to find when the reaction can be described with a quantum model and when a semiclassical one will do.

A Columbia University-led team has developed a new method to finely tune adjacent layers of graphene—honeycomb-like, 2D sheets of carbon atoms—to induce superconductivity. Their research provides new insights into the physics underlying this material’s intriguing characteristics. 

Honoree recognized for pioneering contributions to the fields of quantum and nonlinear photonics

Michal Lipson is a pioneer whose seminal research underpins the explosive growth and rapid commercialization of silicon photonics, a technology that uses optical rays to transfer data among computer chips. She spoke with Columbia Engineering about the joy of physics, putting all your eggs in one basket, and young female researchers taking charge of their careers.

Superconductivity, magnetism, and other forms of interacting electron behavior—bilayers of graphene seem to have it all. Researchers are now using this pristine material to unlock the secrets of interacting-electron phenomena with unprecedented control and tunability

Dmitri Basov, Higgins Professor of Physics at Columbia University, has been awarded the Vannever Bush Faculty Fellowship for 2019. The honor, which is one of the U.S. Department of Defense’s most prestigious awards, aims to foster research that probes the limits of today's technologies and has potential for transformative impact.

Researchers from Brown and Columbia Universities have demonstrated previously unknown states of matter that arise in double-layer stacks of graphene, a two-dimensional nanomaterial. These new states, known as the fractional quantum Hall effect, arise from the complex interactions of electrons both within and across graphene layers.

Leaders in the field of ultracold molecule research from Columbia and Harvard Universities are teaming up to propel understanding of the quantum mechanics of chemical reactions. 

Cory Dean, Professor of Condensed Matter Physics, and Timothy Berkelbach, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, have been named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

Quantum materials physicist Cory Dean is quoted in a Science news story about recent work showing superconductivity in trilayer graphene. 

Physics Today covers new research on molecular clocks from Columbia Physicist Tanya Zelevinsky 

Columbia researchers Sebastian Will (Physics), Ana Asenjo-Garcia (Physics), and Nanfang Yu (Applied Physics) have been awarded $2 million for a project aimed at extending the excited state lifetime of atoms.

Using Columbia’s nano facilities, over four hundred researchers have achieved nearly three hundred inventions and patents.

Researchers propose a new approach—using a photonic-chip platform based on silicon nitride—to attain highly entangled photon states, essential to quantum computing and technology

Working together with the Flatiron Institute in New York City and the Max Planck Society in Germany, the University will harness quantum materials for wider applications and technologies.

Columbia researchers invent a new way to tune the properties of 2D materials by adjusting the twist angle between them; technology enables the development of nanoelectromechanical sensors with applications in astronomy, medicine, search and rescue, and more.

Columbia University joins the Flatiron Institute and Germany’s Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science to establish the Max Planck - New York City Center for Nonequilibrium Quantum Phenomena

Physics Today covers advances in magic angle twisted graphene, including work from Columbia Physicist Cory Dean

Researchers from Columbia University and the University of California, San Diego were able to re-purpose techniques from astrophysics to better visualize nano-scale materials instead of galactic scale astronomical phenomena.

A “multi-messenger” approach that was first employed to study astrophysical phenomena such as black hole mergers can also bring insights to the ultra-small realm of quantum physics, says researchers at Columbia University 

Researchers use atomically thin materials—1/100,000 the size of a human hair—to manipulate the phase of light without changing its amplitude, at extremely low power loss; could enable applications such as LIDAR, phased arrays, optical switching, and quantum and optical neural networks

Columbia Chemist David Reichman talks to Quanta Magazine about the mysteries of glass

Physicists Rees McNally and Tanya Zelevinsky from Columbia University, New York, USA, have now published a paper in EPJ D proposing two new methods of looking for such perturbations and, thus, dark matter. 

Dmitri Basov will use the award to develop experimental techniques that could lead to revolutionary applications in electronics, computing energy technology and medical devices.

In a glass, the freedom of atoms to move by quantum tunneling depends on how fast the glass was initially formed.

Columbia University researchers report that they have observed a quantum fluid known as the fractional quantum Hall states (FQHS), one of the most delicate phases of matter, for the first time in a monolayer 2D semiconductor. 

Using sophisticated optical microscopy techniques, Columbia engineers are first to demonstrate that sufficient strain in 2D material can yield single-photon emitters, key to quantum technologies and future photonic circuitry

Columbia Leads Effort to Build a Quantum Simulator  | The project is supported by an NSF Convergence Accelerator award that funds team-based, multidisciplinary initiatives addressing challenges of national importance. 

Twisting a monolayer and a bilayer sheet of graphene into a three-layer structure leads to new quantum mechanical states.

Columbia researchers have successfully re-competed for the highly competitive Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Columbia’s MRSEC, the Center for Precision-Assembled Quantum Materials (PAQM), will receive $18 million over the next six years to support cutting-edge research into new quantum materials, in which clear effects of quantum mechanics emerge in macroscopic systems.

Columbia team discovers 6nm-long single-molecule circuit with enormous on/off ratio due to quantum interference; finding could enable faster, smaller, and more energy-efficient devices

Researchers at Columbia Engineering report today that they have developed the first nanomaterial that demonstrates "photon avalanching," a process that is unrivaled in its combination of extreme nonlinear optical behavior and efficiency. 

Columbia researchers discover a new way to program light on an ultra-small scale

Chien-Shiung Wu’s pioneering work altered the way scientists view the structure of the universe.

The theoretical physicist studying quantum optics joins three other Columbians being recognized for outstanding contributions to their field with a $75,000 Sloan Research Fellowship.

Columbia researchers engineer first technique to exploit the tunable symmetry of 2D materials for nonlinear optical applications, including laser, optical spectroscopy, imaging, and metrology systems, as well as next-generation optical quantum information processing and computing

Cory Dean is quoted in Quanta about new results regarding superconductivity 

Physics World covers a recent Nature publication from the Basov Lab. 

The pair will focus on an emerging field known as “twistronics.”

The research groups of Christine Hendon and Michal Lipson have demonstrated a novel supercontinuum source that provides improved imaging performance.

A series of interactive workshops developed by Columbia physicist Sebastian Will and STEMteachersNYC will give educators tips and tools to cover quantum science in their classrooms.

Spin transition discovered in the Earth’s mantle; finding will improve understanding the Earth’s interior, and enable better understanding of tectonic events including volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

One of 20 early-career researchers selected for the fellowship, Asenjo-Garcia is exploring how light and matter interact at the quantum level.

Columbia theoretical physicists Boris Altshuler & Igor Aleiner have been awarded the 2022 Lars Onsager Prize from the American Physical Society for their foundational work on many-body localization. They share this year's prize with Princeton's David Huse. 

The prize, presented annually since 1995 in memory of Lars Onsager and his passion for analytical results, recognizes outstanding research in theoretical statistical physics. The prize consists of $10,000 as well as a certificate citing the contribution made by the recipient. 

In search of the mysterious transition between metallic and insulating states of matter, Columbia researchers find signatures of quantum criticality in a unique material.

Meet Henry Yuen, a computer scientist exploring the boundaries between classical and quantum computers. Yuen joined Columbia Engineering as an assistant professor in January 2021.

The results, published in Nature Electronics, relied on a cleaner technique to manipulate the flow of electricity, giving graphene greater conductivity than metals such as copper and gold, and raising its potential for use in telecommunications systems and quantum computers.

A new paper, "Dynamic control of photon lifetime for quantum random number generation," from Prof. Alexander Gaeta's Quantum and Nonlinear Photonics Group and Prof. Michal Lipson's Nanophotonics Group was published by Optica.

Sebastian Will is quoted in Popular Science about IBM's 127-qubit chip, Eagle. 

Visible-spectrum, compact, power-efficient, low-loss phase modulator is a breakthrough in integrated photonics; the device will improve LIDAR for remote sensing, AR/VR goggles, quantum information processing chips, implantable optogenetic probes, and more.

Using 2D materials, researchers have built superconducting qubits that are a fraction of previous sizes, paving the way for smaller quantum computers.

Columbia engineers invent method that combines quantum mechanics with machine learning to accurately predict oxide reactions at high temperatures when no experimental data is available; could be used to design clean carbon-neutral processes for steel production and metal recycling.

Scientists from Honda Research Institute USA, Inc. (HRI-US) have synthesized atomically thin “nanoribbons” – atomic-scale thickness, ribbon-shaped materials – that have broad implications for the future of quantum electronics, the area of physics dealing with the effects of quantum mechanics on the behavior of electrons in matter.

During the pandemic, a group of Columbia graduate students launched the Physics and Coding Club at Democracy Prep Harlem High School. A year later, they’ve left the virtual world of Zoom to gather in real rooms for the first time. 

Six Columbia Quantum Initiative researchers joined Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researcher list this year. Here, we've compiled some highlights from 2021. 

With 2021 drawing to a close, Columbia physicists note the biggest quantum advances they saw last year and what may be coming as we head into 2022.

A team led by Columbia physicist Abhay Pasupathy sees stripes in samples of twisted double bilayer graphene, indicating the presence of a nematic phase characterized by broken rotational symmetry

The ability to program desired properties into materials will be key for making quantum technologies work in the real world. At the Programmable Quantum Materials Energy Frontiers Research Center, researchers have come together to create quantum effects on demand

An adjustable platform made from atomically thin materials may help researchers figure out how to create a robust quantum condensate that can flow without dissipation

Raquel Queiroz, a new assistant professor at Columbia, is setting her own rules as she explores the science of solid materials.

Abhay Pasupathy explains his recent discovery of a nematic phase in twisted double bilayer graphene to Phys.org.

The theoretical computer scientist will use the award to push the boundaries of quantum information science.

Columbia mourns the loss of Aron Pinczuk, Professor of Applied Physics and Professor of Physics. He passed away on February 13, 2022.

The theoretical computer scientist joins four other Columbians being recognized for outstanding contributions to their field with a $75,000 Sloan Research Fellowship.

Dmitri Basov presents his work on nanolight and quantum materials at the Simons Foundation President Lecture Series.

Check out 10 notable papers from Columbia’s Programmable Quantum Materials Energy Frontier Research Center

Columbia chemists contribute to a ground-up approach to designing customizable qubits.

Boris Altshuler and Igor Aleiner share the American Physical Society’s Lars Onsager Prize with Princeton’s David Huse for their foundational work on many-body localization.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’ve compiled a list of the women on the leading edge of quantum science at Columbia.

Before he left for the Quantum Information Processing meeting, we asked Mousavi about combining quantum mechanics with computer science and how endurance sports help keep his mind fit.

It’s a significant step in understanding these whirling quasiparticles and putting them to work in future semiconductor technologies.

Researchers at Columbia and Google Quantum AI have developed an algorithm that uses the most quantum bits to date to calculate ground state energy, the lowest-energy state in a quantum mechanical system. The discovery could help make it easier to design new materials.

IEEE Spectrum covers a new hybrid quantum-classical approach from Columbia chemists David Reichman and Joonho Lee that could help avoid issues with noise in quantum circuits.

Columbia Engineers Cheng Tan and James Hone help colleagues from ICFO bend electrons in graphene with a little light. 

Lights! Camera! Quantum! The theoretical quantum physicist by day and actor by night explains how she blends science and art.

A new paper observing the topologically non-trivial drumhead state emerging from nodal-line semimetals offers new insights into how these newly discovered states behave in real materials.

Columbia Engineers Song Liu and James Hone help colleagues at MIT engineer ferroelectricity 

When it comes to superconductivity, three layers of graphene can be better than two. A new study from Columbia physicists reveals the atomic details that help explain why.

Students learn about the rapidly advancing research field and work with real quantum computing hardware and software. 

For Earth Day, learn about how science at its smallest scale is applied to the depths of our planet.

Together, the two directives lay the groundwork for continued American leadership in an enormously promising field of science and technology, while mitigating the risks that quantum computers pose to America’s national and economic security.

Study describes new mechanism for lowering thermal conductivity to aid search for materials that convert heat to electricity or electricity to heat

For International Day of Light, meet some of the faculty who are continuing the university’s long legacy of light research.

The recipient of the 2022 Couillaud Prize is back in New York and has her sights set on building a super tiny new laser to advance quantum optics research.

Calculations from Ana Asenjo-Garcia and Stuart Masson reveal that any atom array is capable of bursting—a sign that atoms are syncing up.

The theoretical physicist is recognized for her work on light-matter interactions in ultracold atoms.

Columbia chemists and physicists find a link between tunable electronic and magnetic properties in a 2D semiconductor, with potential applications in spintronics, quantum computing, and fundamental research.

As he graduates, the Physics and Math double major reflects on his time at Columbia and research experiences in a quantum lab.

The experimental physicist uses quantum control of molecules to study fundamental science.

One of four mid-career researchers selected, Zelevinsky will use the $2 million award to advance the use of molecules to study fundamental science.

The professor of chemistry, who studies quantum dynamics, phenomenology, and condensed-phase quantum chemistry, is one of 83 scientists from across the nation to receive funding for research as part of the DOE Office of Science’s Early Career Research Program.

An old machine shop in Pupin Hall has a new life as a makerspace for scientists to imagine the future of physics.

Columbia welcomes its first participants in the postdoctoral program to New York this year. Here, they discuss their careers and interests in quantum phenomena in two-dimensional materials. 

The professor of mathematics works at the interface of probability and mathematical physics with a particular interest in exactly solvable probabilistic models and stochastic partial differential equations. Much of his work has focused around the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation and its universality class.

The assistant professor of chemistry, who studies coherent imaging and control of quasiparticle interactions, is one of ten researchers selected to receive $6M in total science funding for cutting-edge research.

A new study from researchers at Columbia University suggests carbon molecules can be laser-cooled to ultracold temperatures, raising the possibility of studying the fundamental properties of these molecular building blocks.

Using a time lens, Columbia Engineers resolve single photons 70x faster than other techniques, another step towards advancing quantum information processing.

Now a visiting fellow at the SIPA’s Center on Global Energy Policy, this Columbia alum offers insights from his time at the Department of Energy about taking quantum science from the lab to the real world.

The project, entitled “Topological Quantum Architectures Through DNA Programmable Molecular Lithography,” will span three years. U of M School of Physics and Astronomy Associate Professor Vlad Pribiag is collaborating with Columbia University Professor Oleg Gang, whose lab will handle the DNA nanoassembly part of the work.

Three computer scientists have posted a proof of the NLTS conjecture, showing that systems of entangled particles can remain difficult to analyze even away from extremes. Columbia Computer Scientist Henry Yuen comments. 

A team at Columbia University and the National University of Singapore finds a simple new way to describe the water-like movement of electrons in a novel type of semiconductor, which could pave the way for more efficient electronics.

The physical chemist at Columbia and recent recipient of a Beckman Young Investigator Award builds instruments to image quantum particles as they move. 

Through a NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates program with Columbia’s Materials Research and Science Engineering Center on Precision-Assembled Quantum Materials, a visiting physics student spends time doing lab work on campus.

In exploring a family of two-dimensional crystals, a husband-and-wife team is uncovering a potent variety of new electron behaviors.

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University, Columbia University, and Harvard University detailed a new mechanism for the formation of magnetic moments in which the quantum confinement of electrons in clusters splits their electronic structures into distinct subshells with different spin directions and number of available orbitals. 

Columbia theoretical physicist Andrew Millis and collaborators at the University of Michigan explore electron pairing in high-temperature superconductors. 

Researchers at Columbia University and Politecnico di Milano have used an atomically thin material to build a device that can change the color of laser beams. Their microscopic device—a fraction of the size of conventional color converters—may yield new kinds of ultra-small optical circuit chips and advance quantum optics.

This GS’23 student did research in a quantum lab in Colorado for her summer internship.

The U.S. Department of Energy renews Columbia’s Energy Frontier Research Center with a four-year $12.6 million grant.

A new bidimensional semiconductor shows the highest nonlinear optical efficiency over nanometer thicknesses.

Research shows that spinning quasiparticles, or magnons, light up when paired with a light-emitting quasiparticle, or exciton, with potential quantum information applications.

Columbia's David Albert reviews Physics, Structure, and Reality by Jill North

Columbia SIPA Fellow Paul Dabbar and IBM's Darío Gill share their thoughts on the CHIPS Act and its potential impact on quantum technology. 

Bae, a postdoc working in the lab of Professor Xiaoyang Zhu, shares her journey to Columbia and what went into her recent Nature paper.

In work published with Columbia engineer James Hone, a Stevens team’s on-chip technology uses orbital angular momentum to encode more information into a single photon.

In collaboration with the Flatiron Institute, Matija Medvidović and Andrew Millis help train a machine learning tool to capture the physics of electrons moving on a lattice using far fewer equations than would typically be required, all without sacrificing accuracy.

$1,050,000.00 from the Department of Energy will support their work through August 2025. 

Columbia engineers invent a flat lens that exclusively focuses light of a selected color—it appears entirely transparent until they shine a beam of light with the correct wavelength onto it, when the glass turns into a lens.

John F. Clauser, who received his PhD from Columbia University in 1969, was one of three scientists awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday.

The Ernest Kempton Adams lecture series, which first brought European leaders in physics and mathematics to the university more than 100 years ago, continues Monday, October 17, with a talk on one of the oldest branches of physics from Sir Michael Berry.

Hone and his co-winners discovered graphene’s “insulating cousin.”

Zhu is recognized by the American Physical Society for his research on the spectroscopy and dynamics of molecular condensed materials, which he is taking to its quantum frontiers.

Using artificial intelligence, an international team of physicists has shown that the thousands of equations needed to model a complex system of interacting electrons can be reduced to just four. 

A photo recap from the inaugural events, held this month at Columbia University.

Debayan Mitra, a polyglot postdoc working with physicist Tanya Zelevinsky, is building an ultracold toolbox of atoms, molecules, and atoms-split-from molecules to understand the tiny world of quantum mechanics.

Aravind Devarakonda began studying electronics in high school. Today, he uses both physics and chemistry to discover new insights about how electrons behave. Read more in his Simon's Foundation Q&A. 

New research finds evidence of waveguiding in a unique quantum material. Their findings counter expectations about how metals conduct light and may push imaging beyond optical diffraction limits.

Zelevinsky accepted the award in Stereodynamics of Chemical Reactions at the 2022 Stereodynamics Conference in Crete, Greece, where she presented a talk on photodissociation and high-precision spectroscopy with trapped ultracold molecules.

Niccolò Bigagli, a sixth-year PhD candidate in physics, explains how he and filmmaker Ramey Newell created their award-winning short film.

Members of the Gaeta lab collaborate on a new device that opens the doors to applications in communication, quantum computing, astronomy.

Seven Columbia Quantum Initiative researchers made Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researcher list this year. Here are a few highlights from 2022.

With the Shuck Lab, Emma Xu is a co-inventor of a photon avalanching process that appeared on the cover of Nature.

Current Columbia physicist Sebastian Will and computer scientist Henry Yuen give a brief overview of his Nobel Prize-winning work on quantum entanglement.

Columbia chemistry postdoc Elena Meirzadeh shares what’s so special about superatoms and her path through science so far.

Graphullerene, an atom-thin material made of linked fullerene subunits, gives scientists a new form of modular carbon to play with.

In a significant advance for impactful technologies such as quantum optics and laser displays for AR/VR, Columbia Engineering’s Lipson Nanophotonics Group has invented the first tunable and narrow linewidth chip-scale lasers for visible wavelengths shorter than red.

New research in Nature describes a unique quantum crystal that can behave as either a ferroelectric metal or a superconductor.

The Electrical Engineering PhD student to talk about the new tunable laser platform he helped invent, the challenges of working with visible light, the importance of collaboration, and what he’s working on next.

Researchers in the US have created the first high-performance, tuneable and narrow-linewidth visible-light lasers that are small enough to fit on a photonic chip. 

BWOG Staff Writer Emily Yi attended a colloquium hosted by the Physics Department, in which panelists from a range of quantum backgrounds discussed the present and future of quantum research. 

Research extends distance that current travels along organic molecules and opens a path to new types of tiny electronics

A clock that ticks using vibrations of strontium molecules could be used to test Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity or to search for forces that have yet to be described.

Gaeta is recognized for his role as founding editor-in chief of Optica and his commitment to excellence in the optics and photonics community.

Speeding up a camera shutter a million million times enables researchers to understand how materials move heat around and is a major step in advancing sustainable energy applications.

Scientists led by a team from Columbia University and the Université de Bourgogne have developed an innovative “camera” with a shutter speed of 1 trillionth of a second that can see through the dynamic disorder of atoms.

Researchers in the Zlab have attained a 100-fold increase in the accuracy of a molecular clock that could serve as a terahertz-frequency standard and as a platform for investigating new physics.

In 1949 physicist Chien-Shiung Wu devised an experiment that documented evidence of entanglement. Her findings have been hidden in plain sight for more than 70 years.

Billinge spoke with the Columbia Data Science Institute about the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), key findings from the materials with long-range order (MLRO) workshop, and what they mean for the future of the field.

Theoretical physicists Raquel Queiroz comments.

A $900,000 award from the Julian Schwinger Foundation will support graduate students in the Physics Department studying theoretical and quantum physics.

A team at Columbia University and University of Warsaw recently created a highly accurate molecular clock that could be used to study new physical phenomena.

Congratulations to graduating senior Jaylyn Umana and incoming PhD student Sophia Wolczko!

Dean, a physicist studying the electronic properties of quantum materials, is one of seven mid-career scientists recognized this year. 

Physicist Cory Dean, recipient of a 2023 Brown Investigator Award, will explore new ways to modify quantum materials.

New class of integrated nanophotonic devices—a world record in simultaneous control of all four optical degrees of freedom—can convert light initially confined in an optical waveguide to an arbitrary optical pattern in free space.

The PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry is one of 39 fellows in this year's class. 

Jonathan Owen of Columbia University is the winner of the 2023 Inorganic Nanoscience Award. This award is presented by the American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry to honor exceptional research in the area of inorganic nanoscience.

Dipti Jasrasaria, a Columbia University postdoctoral research scientist and a 2018-2022 Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF) recipient, has been selected as the 2023 Frederick A. Howes Scholar in Computational Science.

Simons Junior Fellow and Columbia Postdoc Eric Arsenault works at the intersection of physics and chemistry to understand how electrons and nuclei conspire — work that may lead to future energy and device technologies.

Scientists at Columbia Engineering, Berkeley Lab, and UNIST demonstrate that ultra-photostable avalanching nanoparticles are capable of unlimited photoswitching, lighting the way for advances in optical probes, 3D memory, and super-resolution microscopy.

Researchers in the US have shown how light travelling through optical waveguides can be converted into freely propagating light waves with arbitrarily shaped wavefronts – an achievement that the team claims as a first. Nanfang Yu and colleagues at Columbia University and at the City University of New York (CUNY), achieved the feat using “leaky-wave metasurfaces”.

Paul Dabbar, Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University SIPA and Chairman and CEO of Bohr Quantum Technologies, has been invited to testify before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. 

Lawmakers are gearing up to expand a bipartisan quantum research and development effort aimed at boosting U.S. national security — and beating Beijing.

On June 7, 2023, Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy Distinguished Visiting Fellow Paul Dabbar testified before the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. An archived video of the hearing is available here.

A new class of integrated nanophotonic devices, based on leaky-wave metasurfaces, simultaneously controls all four optical degrees of freedom: amplitude, phase, polarization ellipticity, and polarization orientation.

Columbia postdoc Brian Kim combines engineering and physics to advance research into the atom-thin world of 2D materials.

Tunneling spectroscopy uncovers the clearest proof yet that this exotic superconducting state of matter exists without a magnetic field in an iron-based superconductor. 

Time, for Tanya Zelevinsky, is very much of the essence. At her physics lab at Columbia University in New York City, she is building a version of an ‘optical lattice clock’ — a device that can reach such unprecedented accuracy that it would lose only one second over millions or even billions of years. 

The award is given annually to Natural Sciences graduate students selected by faculty, and includes a prize of $5,000 funded by the Sidney Prince Trust.

Owethu Bukula and Quentin Taylor on their summer as NSF REU students with Columbia’s MRSEC on Precision-Assembled Quantum Materials.

One of 93 early career scientists selected this year, Assistant Professor James McIver was chosen for his proposal, "Ultrafast Control of Topological Transport in Quantum Materials"!

Joonho Lee and Elena Meirzadeh were recognized for their work in quantum and materials chemistry.

A new technique developed at Columbia offers a systematic evaluation of twist angle and strain in layered 2D materials.

Postdoc Ricardo Gutiérrez Jáuregui talks about studying light at Columbia and returning home to Mexico City.

A new tool combines a cryogenic nanoscope with a strong magnetic field to visualize quantum particles at sub-nanometer scales.

$530,000 grant from the Department of Energy will support Zhu's work until June 2026. 

A new technique takes a bosonic gas to its lowest temperature yet and a step closer to a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate.

A Columbia postdoc explains what mirrors can reveal about the quantum nature of materials, and how illustrations inform his work.

Ribbons of graphene, rather than squares, could make a better platform for probing the unusual electronic effects that arise from twisting and straining adjacent layers of two-dimensional (2D) materials.

Postdoc Chiara Trovatello wins Best Lightning Talk Award at Department of Energy all-center meeting.

Leonard Kasday's PhD work on quantum entanglement, a subject that won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, is now digitally available.

Brus was recognized alongside two other scientists “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.

Julia Robinson explains how quantum dots went from a theoretical prediction to everyday reality and earned their creators the 2023 Nobel prize in chemistry

In this week’s episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, Gemma Ware speaks to Louis Brus, one of these new Nobel laureates and an emeritus professor of chemistry at Columbia University in New York, about his work on quantum dots and what winning the accolade means to him

The Columbia physicist was recognized for his contributions to the study of two-dimensional materials and their heterostructures. 

Columbia Physics PhD student Matija Medvidović shares why he uses AI to tackle quantum problems.

Degree program will combine education in quantum fundamentals with hands-on experience in quantum research labs.

A record-breaking superatomic semiconductor material allows particles to traverse it between 100 and 1000 times faster than electrons pass through a silicon chip.

Columbia chemists discover ballistic flow in a quantum material. The finding could help overcome shortcomings in semiconductors.

Researchers at Columbia are a step closer to isolating the simplest atom in the universe, with light.

Trovatello is recognized by the Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation for bridging macroscopic and microscopic nonlinear optics with layered semiconductors. 

Richard Friesner, David Reichman, and GSAS '19 graduate James Shee will be part of the Department of Energy's Office of Science 2024 INCITE program. 

Six Columbia Quantum Initiative researchers made Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researcher list this year. Here are a few highlights from 2023.

Highlights since the Columbia Quantum Initiative came together in 2018. 

The $1.32 million grant from the Moore Foundation will support efforts to create a molecular Bose-Einstein Condensate.

WATCH: Henry Yuen joined CBS News to discuss what quantum computing is, its potential uses, and how close we are to seeing the technology in action.

The award will support her mentorship and outreach activities to early-career optics scientists.

Professor Louis Brus of Columbia University tells Nature Nanotechnology about his first encounter with the world of colloidal quantum dots.

The National Nanotechnology Initiative profiles Columbia Engineering PhD student Emma Xu. 

Assistant Professor of Physics James McIver is speeding up quantum research with ultrafast lasers.

Learn more about Columbia's new quantum masters. 

A quantum state of matter comprising molecules with opposite charges at each end has been made for the first time. It could help probe our understanding of the quantum properties of exotic materials.

Columbia Engineers pair vibrating particles, called phonons, with particles of light, called photons, to enhance the nonlinear optical properties of hexagonal boron nitride. The finding could lead to new ways of using light to modify materials. Learn more.

Targeted small-scale experiments, including in the lab of Tanya Zelevinsky, look to find smoking guns—or at least to rule out possibilities.

In a new paper, Roy’s team outlines the unusual quantum behavior of a new material they created, cerium silicon iodide.

The layered crystal, CeSiI, with heavier-than-normal electrons is a new platform to explore quantum phenomena.

Augusto Ghiotto describes his PhD work at Columbia on 2D materials, which was just recognized by the American Physical Society.

The $600,000 award will support her work on the topology of quantum materials.

Victoria Posey talks about her PhD at Columbia and figuring out how to create new materials in the absence of air.

Physics World talks to members of the Roy Lab about their latest material. 

Physics PhD student Ilya Komissarov talks about his theoretical work on electricity in topological materials.

Nadya Mason, Dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, gave a joint Columbia Quantum Initiative Distinguished Speaker Lecture/Columbia Physics C.S. Wu Colloquium on January, 29, 2024.

Researchers flip the switch at the nanoscale by applying light to induce bonding for single-molecule device switching.

Quantum science papers often focus on two-dimensional materials. Columbia News explains why.

MIT physicist and Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek will give the inaugural talk on April 15.

For their Integrative Project week, a group of 5th-to-7th graders toured Pupin Hall for a lesson in physics. 

A recap from the Quantum Information Conference in Taipei. 

Researchers create a compact, all-optical device with the lowest microwave noise ever achieved for an integrated chip.

Research from the groups of physicist Dmitri Basov and engineer Alexander Gaeta were among the most downloaded physics papers last year. 

Theoretical physicist Raquel Queiroz comments on a 2D material observed to exhibit the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect. 

The results, continuing the legacy of late Columbia professor Aron Pinczuk, are a step toward a better understanding of gravity.

Gravitons, the particles thought to carry gravity, have never been seen in space – but something very similar has been detected in a semiconductor.

Emanuil Yanev talks about his PhD work modifying 2D materials to push their light-producing limits.

Quantum computer scientist Henry Yuen comments on research from Microscoft and Quantinuum about making qubits that are less prone to error.