The Promise of Soft-Matter-Enabled Quantum Materials

R Paxton Thedford; Fei Yu; William R T Tait; Kunal Shastri; Francesco Monticone; Ulrich Wiesner

doi:10.1002/adma.202203908

The Promise of Soft-Matter-Enabled Quantum Materials

Adv Mater. 2023 Feb;35(5):e2203908. doi: 10.1002/adma.202203908. Epub 2022 Dec 9.

Authors

R Paxton Thedford^{1

2}, Fei Yu^{1

3}, William R T Tait^{1

2}, Kunal Shastri⁴, Francesco Monticone⁴, Ulrich Wiesner¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA.
² Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA.
³ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA.
⁴ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA.

PMID: 35863756
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202203908

Abstract

The field of quantum materials has experienced rapid growth over the past decade, driven by exciting new discoveries with immense transformative potential. Traditional synthetic methods to quantum materials have, however, limited the exploration of architectural control beyond the atomic scale. By contrast, soft matter self-assembly can be used to tailor material structure over a large range of length scales, with a vast array of possible form factors, promising emerging quantum material properties at the mesoscale. This review explores opportunities for soft matter science to impact the synthesis of quantum materials with advanced properties. Existing work at the interface of these two fields is highlighted, and perspectives are provided on possible future directions by discussing the potential benefits and challenges which can arise from their bridging.

Keywords: quantum materials; self-assembly; soft matter.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding