Quantum breakthrough links light and magnetism in atomically thin materials

Researchers at the City College of New York are charting a fast-growing area of quantum science centered on materials only a few atoms thick. In these systems, light, electric charge, and magnetism are closely connected rather than behaving independently.

The work comes from physicist Vinod M. Menon's Laboratory for Nano and Micro Photonics (LaNMP). Researchers believe these unusual interactions could eventually support advanced optoelectronic devices and quantum technologies that manipulate light, charge, and electron spin together.

In a review published in Nature Materials , titled "Excitons in van der Waals magnetic materials," the researchers examine recent progress involving layered magnetic semiconductors. These materials allow light-generated excitations called excitons to interact with magnetic order and with magnetic waves known as magnons.