Basov Group Research

Our research area is experimental condensed matter physics. In our program, we employ optical methods to investigate new physics of quantum materials. Recent instrumental advances in infrared nano-optics, some of which have been pioneered in our group, enable unprecedented access to the optical effects at the nano-scale deep below the diffraction limit of light. We exploit these instrumental innovations to explore new physical phenomena that are of technological relevance. Current research directions include:

Versatility of nano-infrared and nano-optical methods can be appreciated from a quick inspection of characteristic energy scales in solids which all fall in the frequency range that can be covered using a series of instruments available in our group. Development of novel spectroscopic and nano-imaging instrumentation is an integral part of our research effort.

1. Rainer Hillenbrand, Yohannes Abate, Mengkun Liu, Xinzhong Chen & D. N. Basov “Visible-to-THz near-field nanoscopy” Nature Reviews Materials 10, 285 (2025)

2. Dmitri N. Basov, Ana Asenjo-Garcia, Peter James Schuck, Xiaoyang Zhu, Angel Rubio, Andrea Cavalleri, Milan Delor, Michael M. Fogler, and Mengkun Liu, “Polaritonic Quantum matter,” Nanophotonics 14, 857 (2025)

3. D.N. Basov, R.D. Averitt and D. Hsieh, “Towards properties on demand in quantum materials” Nature Materials 16, 1077 (2017).