QUEST · QUantum-device Engineering with novel STates of matter

The goal of the proposed project is to employ novel states of matter for the development of new devices for quantum technologies, optoelectronics and ultrafast nanoelectronics. Speeding up and miniaturization of the existing electronics are approaching their physical limits. Novel states of mater are a rapidly growing field of science including quantum condensates and superconductors. One of the topics in the proposed project explores devices based on condensates of exciton-polaritons in semiconductors, representing both: ultrafast low-dissipation electronics due to their light-matter superfluid properties, as well as extremely nonlinear optics useful for quantum photonics. Another approach in the proposed project, which can provide a new direction in optoelectronic devices, is based on combining superconductors with semiconductors. The project takes advantage of the recent progress in high-temperature superconductors, which makes these technologies significantly more practical. Lately, a novel paradigm for finding new properties in the solid state has emerged - through the sudden change in topological invariants rather than breaking of symmetries. These topological phases of matter have been demonstrated to exist at the surface of some materials with strong spin-orbit coupling, revealing novel physical properties, including dissipationless spin currents with potential applications in spintronics and quantum technologies. A part of the proposed research focuses on devices based on proximity-induced high-temperature superconductivity in such topological insulators. This proximity effect has been predicted recently to produce the elusive Majorana fermion, which is of great interest for condensed-matter physics and quantum computation.""