Light-matter interaction

How does light interact with solids? What “hidden” properties of materials can we reveal by the interaction with photons? How we used tailored light to control materials? These are some of the questions that our group is interested in. Our research connects solid-state physics, ultrafast physics, theoretical spectroscopy, and high-performance computing.

Starting from microscopic understanding of how light couples to particles in solids, we study the implications for advanced spectroscopy. To this end, we employ first-principle simulations, advanced modeling, and many-body treatment to understand the cooperative quantum behavior of microscopic particles in materials.

Understanding the light-matter coupling then allows us to study how materials react to strong light fields. Our goal is to steer the functionality of materials with tailored light on an ultra-short time scale.

The research of our group is often conducted in close collaboration with experimentalists. Ultimately, we would like to see our ideas applied in the real world!