Transition metal oxides and some organic crystals form a class of materials called strongly correlated electron systems (SCES), in which electrons are forced to move collectively, unlike in the ordinary metals and semiconductors. The SCES's are known for many unusual properties. Among them are unconventional, extremely large and often nonlinear responses to external stimuli.

The aim of our research is twofold: (1) to understand the underlying physical mechanism of the electron correlation and its response to the applied field; and (2) to exploit it for novel electronic devices. We are particularly interested in responses to optical excitation. Examples are photoinduced magnetism and insulator-to-metal transition. A device whose physical state can be manipulated by electric current, magnetic field, and laser light all acting cooperatively or competitively depending on the state of the matter would lead to a new concept in information processing.

We have in-house facilities for fabricating high quality thin film samples, full characterization by X-ray, magnetization, and transport measurements, and optical studies using an array of optical equipment, ranging from an fs pulsed laser to a very narrow linewidth cw laser.