Advanced Ultrafast Probes of Quantum Materials – From Terahertz Fields to the ASU CXFEL

The rapid evolution of ultrafast techniques has enabled unique access to materials dynamics near the ground state and in phases far from equilibrium. I will discuss the development and utilization of ultrafast terahertz, electron, and X-ray probes to investigate transient structural and electronic dynamics across the Brillouin zone in quantum materials. This includes atomic-scale stripes in correlated oxides and charge-density-waves in quasi-2D transition-metal dichalcogenides, representing key platforms for dynamic studies of symmetry-broken phases. Finally, I will outline the accelerator-based X-ray light sources currently under development at Arizona State University – including the Compact X-ray Free Electron Laser (CXFEL) – designed to provide ultrashort X-rays for new ways to observe, manipulate, and control microscopic processes and functionalities of complex systems across biology, AMO, and materials science.