Quantum Materials Design Lab

Welcome to the quantum materials design (QMDLab) group in the Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science at TIFR Mumbai. Our group has a broad interest in understanding, predicting, and engineering fundamental as well as functional physical properties of wide classes of materials ranging from topological magnets, to topological insulators and Rasbha systems with a focus on emergent properties arising from their combinations. We are also interested in understanding and engineering advanced materials with collective state phenomena and minimum physical dimensions that will be suitable for next-generation electronics and quantum information applications. We are enthusiastic about exploring new research areas including energy-efficient materials and materials relevant for green technologies of the future (see Research and Publications for details).  

We address the questions that how quantum mechanics can fundamentally alter the physical properties of materials, and how the interplay of wavefunction topology and quantum interactions can generate exotic phases through external controls of electric/magnetic fields, strains, pressure, and photo- or chemical doping. We leverage first-principles density functional theory based codes and related methodologies, including VASP (Vienna ab-initio simulation package), which is a complex package that performs ab-initio quantum-mechanical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using pseudopotentials or the projector-augmented wave method, Wien2K, Quantum Espresso and many other codes. We also develop own codes towards a realistic modelling of spintronic, transport, and spectroscopic properties of quantum materials. Such theoretical modelling is essential for robust interpretation of experimental results and for identifying areas of ever-increasing experimental phase space where further work will likely be most fruitful.

Collaborative research is the foundation of modern science. We greatly appreciates collaborative and interdisciplinary strategies to solve various research problems. Our strong collaborations with leading experimental groups worldwide have enabled rapid synthesis, characterizations, and physical realization of our most promising predicted candidate materials in the past. Our group will continue on collaborative ties to uncover the beauty of quantum material for fundamental science studies and energy storage and quantum information processing applications.