From room-sized computers to laptops and landlines to cellphones, technology has been getting better and faster over time.

People live busy lives and want technology that’s capable of handling their pace. ISU researchers are finding materials that can speed up our gadgets and gizmos.

“We are using ultrafast lasers, short-pulse lasers to study materials’ properties so that we may understand and control them,” said Jigang Wang, associate professor of physics and astronomy.

Wang works in a laser lab to increase fundamental knowledge of materials, both found and created. In the lab, lasers are shot into materials in an effort to understand their properties.

The term for this technique is ultrafast spectroscopy, which can be compared to fast strobe photography. Like a camera takes pictures of objects, the lasers take pictures of a material’s electrons, Wang said. 

“We use a two-pulse laser, and these pulses are very short,” Wang said. “The first pulse flashes the sample and the second pulse takes a picture.”

By shooting lasers into materials, Wang and his team can analyze the physical properties of materials on an atomic level. The lasers can even be set to different pulse durations for better control.

Ranging from femtoseconds to nanoseconds, the lasers in the lab can be set to study different properties of materials. Wang said he focuses on the three fundamental characteristics of materials: atomic spin, electrons and atoms.

Using the lasers to control and study these three properties, they can learn a great deal about the functions of a material. If they want to study and control spin, they set the lasers to nanosecond pulses.

When studying atoms, they use picosecond pulses. For electron study and control, they use femtosecond pulses.

The end goal of the research is to find materials most suited for use in electronics. By increasing fundamental understanding of materials, the best materials for computing can be uncovered.

“If you want a more powerful, smaller computer, you are really going to the quantum world,” said Xu Yang, graduate research assistant who works with Wang. “What we want to do is find a material for quantum computing.”

Wang’s research works to both strengthen and quicken computers with better materials, the idea of quantum computing looming in the distant horizon. While quantum computing is definitely a long ways away, using more efficient materials for faster tech is not, he said.

“With this research, our fundamental understanding increases, so we know what materials would be best to use in hardware,” Wang said. “So we could essentially speed everything up.”