Speaker: Prof. Satyajit Banerjee, Professor, Department of Physics, IIT Kanpur.

Title: "Illuminating Hidden Currents in Quantum Materials"

Date: Friday, 20th March 2026 - Time: 4 PM

Tea & Coffee: 5 PM

Venue: CeNSE Seminar Hall

Abstract:

Electrical transport measurements usually reveal only averaged properties of materials, 
often concealing important spatial variations in electronic behaviour. In this talk, 
I will describe how, in my lab, we use magneto-optical imaging to directly map spatial 
current flow in quantum materials with high sensitivity and micron-scale resolution. 
By imaging the magnetic fields generated by transport currents, we reconstruct the local 
current distribution and uncover hidden electronic phenomena. I will present examples 
from several systems, including the topological insulator Bi₂Se₃, where surface and 
bulk currents coexist, as well as correlated materials exhibiting metal–insulator 
transitions and unconventional superconductivity. These studies demonstrate how real-space 
imaging of current provides new insights into emergent electronic phases in complex materials.

Biography:

Dr. Satyajit Banerjee is a Professor in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 
where he has been a faculty member since 2004. His interests lie in research and teaching. 
His research focuses on experimental condensed-matter physics, with a particular emphasis 
on superconductivity, vortex matter, and emergent phenomena in quantum materials. He has developed advanced 
magneto-optical and current-imaging techniques to probe current flow and non-equilibrium dynamics in superconductors and other quantum 
material systems, such as topological insulators and 2D materials. He continues to focus on the development of quantum-material 
heterostructure-based devices and technologies, as well as pushing the sensitivity limits of instruments. 
Dr. Banerjee received his Ph.D. from the TIFR Mumbai and was a Feinberg Postdoctoral Fellow 
at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He has authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications, 
including several in Physical Review Letters, and holds multiple patents in superconducting devices and imaging technologies.  

Host Faculty:  Prof. Chandan Kumar