This PREM strives to solve fundamental problems in emergent materials that have vital scientific and
technological importance as well as economical and societal impacts. A multidisciplinary team with
coordinated and complementary skills in theory, computation and experiment is assembled into three
interdisciplinary groups (IRGs):
IRG1: Interfacial Charge Transfer and Separation in Excitonic Photovoltaics
We will tackle a grand challenge in solar energy conversion – charge transfer
and separation at donor/acceptor interfaces, which is the bottleneck for excitonic solar cells. A firstprinciples
based theoretical framework will be developed to address fundamental problems at the
organic/organic and organic/inorganic interfaces.
IRG2: Quantum Phenomena in Topological Materials
We will explore intriguing competitions among electron interaction, nontrivial band structure and random disorder in topological materials. We will investigate fundamental problems associated with correlated electron systems and elucidate novel
physical phenomena emerging in these complex materials, which are crucial for technological advances in
magneto-electronics, spintronic devices as well as topological quantum computing.
IRG 3: Spintronics in Multifunctional Devices
We will study electronic structure and spin transport of multifunctional nano-systems consisting of ferromagnetic and
ferroelectric tunnel junctions based on multiferroics and topological insulator based materials. The
coupling between different degrees of freedom and its sensitivity to interfacial structure will give rise to a
wealth of exciting phenomena, providing unprecedented access to emerging multi-functionalities of future
spintronic devices.
