Recent news
September 2025
Our work with Andrej Singer's group here at Cornell on light-induced strains in LaAlO3 is published in Physical Review Letters. See the Publications and News pages for more information.
We're answering
complex questions.
Research in the Benedek group is focused on using a combination of crystal chemistry, symmetry principles and Density Functional Theory calculations to connect material properties to bonding and physical mechanisms, with a particular emphasis on controlling the structures and properties of complex oxides out of equilibrium. Our goal is to use advances in the fundamental understanding of mechanisms to create design rules for new materials with enhanced or targeted properties. We are pursuing these ideas through three main research thrusts, described further in Research.
Updates
Featured publication
Picosecond Expansion in LaAlO3 Resonantly Driven by Infrared-Active Phonons
- Authors:
- Jakob Gollwitzer, Jeffrey Z. Kaaret, Y. Eren Suyolcu, Guru Khalsa, Rylan C. Fernandes, Oleg Gorobtsov, Sören Buchenau, ChanJu You, Jayanti Higgins, Ryan S. Russell, Ziming Shao, Yorick A. Birkhölzer, Takahiro Sato, Matthieu Chollet, Giacomo Coslovich, Mario Brützam, Christo Guguschev, John W. Harter, Ankit S. Disa, Darrell G. Schlom, Nicole A. Benedek,* and Andrej Singer*
- Date:
- 2025
- Synopsis:
- We investigate the ultrafast structural dynamics of LaAlO3 thin films driven by short mid-infrared laser pulses at 20 THz. Time-resolved x-ray diffraction reveals an immediate lattice expansion and an acoustic breathing mode of the film. First-principles theory and a spring-mass model identify the direct coupling between coherently driven infrared-active phonons and strain as the underlying mechanism.