Department of Applied Physics

Quantum Dynamics (QD)

The research interests of the QD group lead by Professor Päivi Törmä are quantum coherent dynamics and quantum many-body phenomena in designed nanosystems. We are active in the fields of superconductivity, ultracold quantum gases and nanoplasmonics, and we combine theory and experiment.
Plasmon BEC

Research

The goal of the Quantum Dynamics group is to find novel quantum phenomena that may occur in future designed nanosystems. We target generic concepts, but a few areas where the possibilities of designing and tailoring the systems are particularly fascinating are our focus: 2D materials, ultracold quantum gases and plasmonic lattice systems. In the last one we combine experiment and theory, while in the former two our research is theoretical. The phenomena we have been interested in include superfluidity, superconductivity, topological phases of matter, Bose-Einstein condensation, lasing, and strong coupling between light and matter in the nanoscale.

We have found that exotic forms of superfluidity, such as the co-existence of superconductivity and magnetization, are especially stable in lattice geometries. Also, we have discovered that superfluidity in a flat energy band is connected to the quantum metric and has a lower bound given by a topological invariant, the Chern number.

The Quantum Dynamics group has experimentally observed strong coupling between dye molecules and plasmonic light modes. Arrays of metal nanoparticles offer us great opportunities for designing the band structure and the modes of light. We have observed Bose-Einstein condensation in such a plasmonic lattice, and also dark-mode lasing.

We fabricate plasmonic lattices using nanolithography and measure their optical properties in our lab, which includes a femtosecond laser setup for studies of quantum dynamics.

In the theory work, we use both analytical approaches and advanced numerical methods, such as dynamical mean field theory.

We lead two international research collaborations: SuperC 2033 which targets room temperature superconductivity, and SCOLED which aims at efficient organic LEDs.

You can find below some of our publications, however click here for a full list of our Latest Publications. You can also find below Media coverage which includes public-accessible descriptions of our work and Alumni showing where people from our group have proceeded.

Latest publications

Electromagnetic effects in anti-Hermitian media with gain and loss

L. Freter, M. S. Mirmoosa, A. Sihvola, C. R. Simovski, S. A. Tretyakov 2024 PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH

Finite-momentum Cooper pairing in proximitized altermagnets

Song Bo Zhang, Lun Hui Hu, Titus Neupert 2024 Nature Communications

Multimode Lasing in Supercell Plasmonic Nanoparticle Arrays

Rebecca Heilmann, Kristian Arjas, Tommi K. Hakala, Päivi Törmä 2023 ACS Photonics

Conductivity in flat bands from the Kubo-Greenwood formula

Kukka-Emilia Huhtinen, Päivi Törmä 2023 Physical Review B

Superfluidity of flat band Bose-Einstein condensates revisited

Aleksi Julku, Grazia Salerno, Päivi Törmä 2023 Low Temperature Physics

Bloch oscillations along a synthetic dimension of atomic trap states

Christopher Oliver, Aaron Smith, Thomas Easton, Grazia Salerno, Vera Guarrera, Nathan Goldman, Giovanni Barontini, Hannah M. Price 2023 PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH
More information on our research in the Aalto research portal.
Research portal

Media coverage

Quantum dynamics group members

Alumni

Degree Name Current position
PhD(2023) Kukka-Emilia Huhtinen ETH Zürich
PhD(2021) Antti Moilanen ETH Zürich
PhD(2020) Marek Nečada University of Eastern Finland
PhD(2020) Aleksi Julku Aarhus University
PhD(2020) Aaro Väkeväinen Microsoft HoloLens
PhD(2018) Rui Guo Ajat
PhD(2018) Tuomas Vanhala Tampere University (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)
PhD(2018) Heikki Rekola University of Eastern Finland (Tampere University)
PhD(2017) Anne-Maria Visuri University of Bonn (University of Geneva)
PhD(2015) Elmer Doggen Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (CNRS, University of Toulouse)
PhD(2014) Miikka Heikkinen Accenture
PhD(2014) Anna Korolyuk Sanoma Oy
PhD(2013) Antti-Pekka Eskelinen Murata Electronics
PhD(2011) Jussi Kajala 3DBear (Tekes, Spinverse)
PhD(2010) Mikko Leskinen Biit Oy
PhD(2009) Marcus Rinkiö Murata Electronics
PhD(2009) Tommi Hakala University of Eastern Finland (Aalto University, Harvard University)
PhD(2009) Anton Kuzyk Aalto University (Max Plank Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart; Technische Universität München)
PhD(2008) Timo Koponen Varian Medical Systems
PhD(2006) Jami Kinnunen Aalto University (JILA, Boulder)
PhD(2006) Sampo Tuukkanen Tampere University
PhD(2005) Pasi Kivinen Microsoft HoloLens (Murata Electronics)
PhD(2005) Anu Huttunen Nokia Research Center
PhD(2003) Mirta Rodriguez IRIS Research / Engineering / Technology (Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, Madrid; ICFO Barcelona; University of Oxford)
Postdoc Gabriel Topp Dispelix
Postdoc Pavel Kliuiev Microsoft HoloLens
Postdoc Konstantinos Daskalakis University of Turku
Postdoc Pramod Kumar Dispelix (Aalto University)
Postdoc Long Liang Sichuan Normal University (Nordita, Stockholm; Aalto University)
Postdoc Marek Tylutki Warsaw University of Technology
Postdoc Jildou Baarsma ASML Semiconductors
Postdoc Arya Dhar Visseiro Digital Healthcare (Leibniz University, Göethe-Universität Frankfurt)
Postdoc Mikko Huttunen Tampere University (University of Ottawa)
Postdoc Stéphane Derom Universite de Bourgogne
Postdoc Shaoyu Yin Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT) (University of Birmingham)
Postdoc Lei Shi Fudan University, China
Postdoc Robert Moerland Lumicks (TU Delft, The Netherlands)
Postdoc Dong-Hee Kim Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Korea
Postdoc Alexander Itin Universität Hamburg
Postdoc Francesco Massel University of Southeast Norway (University of Jyväskylä, University of Helsinki)
Postdoc Andreas Johansson University of Jyväskylä
Postdoc Reza Bakhtiari Universität Hamburg (Göethe-Universität Frankfurt)
Postdoc Lars Melwyn Jensen University of Copenhagen
Postdoc Jani Martikainen Aalto University (Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics (NORDITA))
Postdoc Vesa Ruuska  
Postdoc Jarmo Vanhanen Lemi School
Senior researcher Jussi Toppari University of Jyväskylä
MSc(2022) Jaakko Kähärä University of Helsinki
MSc(2018) Miika Mäkelä SSF - Space Systems Finland
MSc(2018) Antti Ranni Lund University
MSc(2013) Juha Kreula Boston Consulting (University of Oxford)
MSc(2012) Joel Lehikoinen Kaiku Health
MSc(2010) Olli Nummi Fortum Nuclear Services
MSc(2009) Kimmo Laitinen University of Eastern Finland
MSc(2008) Ville Kotimäki JAMK University of Applied Sciences
MSc(2007) Joni Pasanen University of Jyväskylä
MSc(2007) Veikko Linko Aalto University (Technische Universität München)
MSc(2007) Marina Timmermans (Zavodchikova) Imec, Belgium (Aalto University)
MSc(2006) Heli Lehtivuori University of Jyväskylä (Tampere University of Technology)
MSc(2006) Lasse Hirviniemi  
MSc(2005) Tomi Paananen Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf
MSc(2005) Mikko Laitinen University of Jyväskylä
MSc(2004) Jukka Elfström Moventas Wind
MSc(2003) Esa Tarkiainen Enermet
MSc(2002) Arto Javanainen University of Jyväskylä
MSc(2002) Ossi Partanen Nordic Semiconductor
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