Ultrafast Dynamics in Nanoscale Systems

A significant effort in the group is devoted to the investigation of flow and transduction of electronic and phononic heat in nanoscale systems. This fundamental work is performed mainly within the framework of the ERC Starting Grant project CUHL (Controlling Ultrafast Heat in Layered materials) and a joint experimental-computational Spanish Mineco project (STEAMY) towards understanding and steering heat flow in 2D materials. Supported by an ERC Proof of Concept Grant (COOLGRAELE), the group also explores applying this understanding towards thermal management applications.

The group also works in the field of terahertz technologies, and in particular nonlinear terahertz photonics, where quantum materials such as graphene and topological insulators, as well as metamaterial systems, turn out to be an excellent platform with strongly improved figures of merit. The UDNS group is furthermore strongly involved in developing novel ultrafast optical and optoelectronic microscopy techniques, with a broad range of techniques currently available in the lab.