Magneto-electric sheep for two-dimensional dreams

We are designing new, super-thin materials, only a few atoms thick, that can respond to two or more different types of external stimuli simultaneously. For example, imagine a material that can be a quantum magnet and also change its shape when you apply an electric field. Such behavior induces new physical phenomena, with novel physical laws that can be cast by design. The potential applications of these so-called "multiferroic" materials are limited only by our imagination.

We use quantum theoretical tools and computer simulations to predict exactly how these new materials will behave and what new, exciting properties they will have. Our goal is for these predictions to be so precise that scientists in laboratories can then attempt to create them and observe these effects for themselves.