Recently, Shantou Science and Technology Bureau, together with Guangdong Productivity Promotion Center and Overseas Chinese Economic and Cooperation Experimental Zone, hosted the Shantou Sci-Tech Achievements Matching Conference. A collective awarding ceremony for municipal-level sci-tech innovation platforms was held during the event. The Shantou Municipal Key Laboratory of Light–Matter Interaction, proposed by Guangdong Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT), was officially recognized and awarded at the ceremony.

Shantou Municipal Key Laboratories serve as important platforms for conducting basic and applied basic research, gathering and cultivating outstanding scientific and technological talents, and producing original scientific and technological achievements. The laboratory, hosted by the Department of Physics at GTIIT, will serve as an interdisciplinary platform for basic research, instrument development, talent training and industrial collaboration in one of the most active areas of modern science.

Light–matter interaction underpins fields ranging from attosecond science and quantum optics to 2D materials and flexible electronics. The laboratory will be organized around five research units:

?      Attosecond Science and Ultrafast Optics: strong-field phenomena, high-harmonic generation, time-resolved spectroscopy and waveform control

?      Quantum Optics and Photonic Quantum Matter: quantum and nonclassical light, cavity and waveguide QED, light-driven quantum control

?      Condensed Matter, 2D Materials and Extreme Conditions: nonequilibrium dynamics in solids, van der Waals, topological and strongly driven materials

?      Polaritons, Excitons and Strong Coupling: hybrid light–matter quasiparticles and their use in nonlinear optics and information processing

?      Flexible and Molecular Electronics: optoelectronic devices for sensing, switching, memory and neuromorphic applications

At the beginning, the laboratory will build its core team and governance, launch flagship projects in all five directions, and set up a shared experimental and computational platform. In the future, it aims to develop distinctive capabilities in areas such as ultrafast spectroscopy, strong-field photonics or 2D-material optoelectronics, and to form lasting partnerships with industry. In the longer term, the goal is a regional platform with national visibility and a foundation for higher designation.

Open collaboration

The laboratory will operate on an open model, with shared major facilities, an academic committee that includes external scholars, and regular seminars, workshops, visiting programs and summer schools. It will work closely with Guangdong's electronics, display, advanced-materials and manufacturing sectors, linking frontier research to regional needs.

Researchers, students and industry partners interested in collaborating are warmly invited to contact Prof. Marcelo Ciappina, Director, marcelo.ciappina@gtiit.edu.cn.

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