Lab Research Areas

The laboratory explores the possibilities of nonlinear optical phenomena in quantum materials, to enable a better understanding of the coupling of light to topological band structures. It focuses in particular on photocurrent generation – where light absorbed in the material induces a current flow – which is of special promise for paving the way to optical quantum control of currents in devices.

Scholar Profile

At Tel Aviv University, Dr. Soifer is part of the School of Physics and Astronomy. As she explains, modern technology is built upon our deep understanding of materials and their physical properties. Her expertise is in the field of quantum materials in which quantum effects play an important role even on macroscopic scales. She investigates light-matter interactions in these materials using ultrafast time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (trARPES). With impressive experimental discoveries already to her credit, Dr. Soifer plans to establish trARPES as a “band-resolved microscope” for the optical properties of topological materials (one class of quantum materials).

Dr. Soifer’s laboratory, unique in Israel in terms of its capabilities in this ground-breaking and fast-developing field, explores the possibilities of photocurrent generation – a nonlinear optical process where light absorbed in the material induces a current flow. This process is of special promise for paving the way to optical quantum control of currents in devices, and is interesting from a spectroscopic point of view, enabling a better understanding of the coupling of light to topological band structures.

Prior to joining the Tel Aviv University faculty, Dr. Soifer worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford. She was a winner of both Fulbright and Rothschild postdoctoral fellowships.