물리학과

Current Research Interests

• Designing and discovering phases of matter that do not naturally exist
• 1) Quantum Materials: Many-body quantum entanglement, Fractional excitations, Topological qubits
• - Realization of quantum spin liquid states via heterostructure engineering
• - Detections and manipulations of fractional excitations through spintronics techniques
• - Exploration of entangled quantum phases as platforms for topological qubits
• 2) Optical Materials: Materials for advanced optics and photonics
• - Low-dimensional excitions, giant optical anisotropy, hyperbolic dispersion
• - Design of bolometric materials for high-sensitivity infrared sensing
• - Development of novel materials for optical modulators
• 3) Ferroic Materials: Emerging ferroic systems for future memory and logic applications
• - Altermagnetic materials for next-generation spintronics
• - Materials for multi-level and neuromorphic memory devices

Biographical Sketch

• B.S. in Physics (2010), Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
• Ph.D. in Physics (2015), Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
• – Dissertation: “Optical spectroscopic studies on the electronic structures coupled to lattice/spin degrees of freedom in 5d transition metal oxides”
• – Advisor: Prof. Tae Won Noh
• Postdoctoral research associate in the Group of Dr. Ho Nyung Lee (2016 – 2019)
• – Materials Science and Technology division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN
• Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, UNIST (2019 – 2024)
• Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, UNIST (2025 – )

Selected Publications

• Tunneling magnetoresistance in altermagnetic RuO2-based magnetic tunnel junctions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 246703 (2025).
• Optical detection of bond-dependent and frustrated spin in the two-dimensional cobalt-based honeycomb antiferromagnet Cu3Co2SbO6, Nat. Commun. 16, 1323 (2025).
• Suppression of antiferromagnetic order by strain-enhanced frustration in honeycomb cobaltate, Science Advances 10, eadn8694 (2024).
• Honeycomb oxide heterostructure as a candidate host for a Kitaev quantum spin liquid, Phys. Rev. B 107, 075103 (2023).
• Extended Oxygen Octahedral Tilt Proximity near Oxide Heterostructures, Nano Letters 23 (3), 1036-1043 (2023).

Lab Introduction video