The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Columbia University, the Center for Advanced Electronic Materials (AEM), unites scientists and engineers from chemistry, physics, and engineering to discover and design quantum materials that move and process information far more efficiently than today's technologies allow. Conventional electronics carry information by pushing electrical charge through wires, which wastes energy as heat and limits how small and fast devices can become. The research team creates quantum materials in which information instead travels as organized waves that lose very little energy, and it explores new states of matter that emerge when materials are gently steered by light or by electromagnetic fields. This work advances national priorities in semiconductors and quantum information sciences and points toward a future generation of low-power computing and communication. The Center is equally devoted to people, training a materials-science workforce at every stage from kindergarten through graduate and postdoctoral study. The Center brings hands-on science to hundreds of thousands of learners and strengthens the Nation's leadership in advanced materials.
