School of Physics Spring Colloquium Series- Dr. Phillip Kim

Speaker: Dr. Phillip Kim

Host: Zhu-Xi Luo

Title: Search for Anyons in Quantum Materials

Abstract: Anyons, quasiparticles with fractional charge and exotic exchange statistics, have inspired decades of condensed matter research. Furthermore, it has been predicted that the exchange braiding of these particles, particularly non-abelian anyons, could produce topologically protected logic operations that may serve as the building blocks of fault-tolerant quantum computing. In this talk, I will discuss progress in researching two quantum materials platforms for realizing these exotic particles. In the first example, we will discuss anyon braiding arising in fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effects in graphene, using quantum Hall interferometers for direct observation of the anyon braiding phase around a confined cavity. In the second example, we will describe our recent experimental efforts to realize non-abelian anyons in proximitized topological insulator surfaces. Using a Corbino device geometry, we demonstrate the controlled manipulation of non-abelian anyons contained in magnetic vortices. We report tantalizing experimental observations to show the presence of non-abelian anyons in both systems.

Bio: Philip Kim is a professor of physics and applied physics at Harvard University who works with experimental physics in low-dimensional quantum materials. He earned his B.S. in physics from Seoul National University in 1990 and his Ph.D. in applied physics from Harvard University in 1999. Before joining Harvard, he was a Miller Postdoctoral Fellow in Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a faculty member at Columbia University. Professor Kim’s research focuses on mesoscopic investigations of transport phenomena, particularly the electric, thermal, and thermoelectric properties of low-dimensional nanoscale materials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, and other two-dimensional materials and their heterostructures. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics (2023) and the Oliver E. Buckley Prize from the American Physical Society (2014). Professor Kim is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.