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Dear Visitor, welcome to our theory lab homepage! here you will find descriptions of our research activities and links to our published papers. Broadly speaking, our research interests are in the domain of fluctuation induced interactions in the nano- to micron-sized regime, with a current focus on nonreciprocal materials. Fluctuation induced interactions are interactions between atoms, molecules or bodies induced by the quantum and thermal fluctuations of dipoles and electromagnetic fields, a famous example of which is the Casimir effect. Examples of nonreciprocal materials include magnetic topological insulators, graphene and certain doped semiconductors such as indium antimonide in the presence of a magnetic field.
Dear Visitor, welcome to our theory lab homepage! here you will find descriptions of our research activities and links to our published papers. Broadly speaking, our research interests are in the domain of fluctuation induced interactions in the nano- to micron-sized regime, with a current focus on nonreciprocal materials. Fluctuation induced interactions are interactions between atoms, molecules or bodies induced by the quantum and thermal fluctuations of dipoles and electromagnetic fields, a famous example of which is the Casimir effect. Examples of nonreciprocal materials include magnetic topological insulators, graphene and certain doped semiconductors such as indium antimonide in the presence of a magnetic field.
Our interest in nonreciprocal systems is driven by the additional and seemingly counter-intuitive phenomena which are absent in reciprocal media but appear in nonreciprocal media, for example, repulsive Casimir forces between identical magnetic topological insulators and the spontaneous rotation of an indium antimonide particle when its temperature is different from that of the surrounding vacuum. We are currently investigating the rich spectrum of possible behaviors of fluctuation induced interaction as they appear in Casimir/van der Waals forces, torques and near-field heat transfer, the character and control of which have potential benefits for the production of "anti-stictive" micro electromechanical systems and nanoscale heat engines.
Our interest in nonreciprocal systems is driven by the additional and seemingly counter-intuitive phenomena which are absent in reciprocal media but appear in nonreciprocal media, for example, repulsive Casimir forces between identical magnetic topological insulators and the spontaneous rotation of an indium antimonide particle when its temperature is different from that of the surrounding vacuum. We are currently investigating the rich spectrum of possible behaviors of fluctuation induced interaction as they appear in Casimir/van der Waals forces, torques and near-field heat transfer, the character and control of which have potential benefits for the production of "anti-stictive" micro electromechanical systems and nanoscale heat engines.
A parallel interest is in the control and character of fluctuation interactions of nano- to micron-sized biological/soft matter systems e.g. biosensors. Such systems typically involve colloids or surfaces in an electrolytic medium (e.g., a DNA complex immersed in an aqueous solution with salt ions of different valencies); thus, besides Casimir/van der Waals forces, there are also fluctuation forces induced by the thermally annealing fluctuations of the salt ions in the electrolyte, the "charge regulation" fluctuations of the ions on the colloids as they detach or re-attach to the colloidal surface subject to chemical equilibrium, and the "quenched" fluctuations stemming from structural inhomogeneities of the colloid surface and/or the valence numbers of the salt ions. We are interested to unravel the complex variety of interaction phenomena in such systems.
A parallel interest is in the control and character of fluctuation interactions of nano- to micron-sized biological/soft matter systems e.g. biosensors. Such systems typically involve colloids or surfaces in an electrolytic medium (e.g., a DNA complex immersed in an aqueous solution with salt ions of different valencies); thus, besides Casimir/van der Waals forces, there are also fluctuation forces induced by the thermally annealing fluctuations of the salt ions in the electrolyte, the "charge regulation" fluctuations of the ions on the colloids as they detach or re-attach to the colloidal surface subject to chemical equilibrium, and the "quenched" fluctuations stemming from structural inhomogeneities of the colloid surface and/or the valence numbers of the salt ions. We are interested to unravel the complex variety of interaction phenomena in such systems.