Writing topological devices with light

A collaboration with the Awschalom group (Chicago) produced a surprising discovery: illumination of topological insulator films on strontium titanate substrates provides a way to optically pattern persistently doped regions of the film. This provides a potentially powerful scheme for writing and erasing circuits that contain topological insulator devices [Yeats et al., Science Advances, 2015] . See also these press releases from Chicago and Penn State.

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