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Quantum Materials

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The Quantum Materials program is working towards bringing on the Quantum Age by integrating theory, materials synthesis, and experiments to explore and advance the frontiers of quantum physics. The program is structured around four main thrusts: quantum spin liquids, topological materials, the pseudogap phase of cuprate superconductors, and strange metals. To understand the working principles of such quantum matter, this team is developing new tools, new models, and new materials

 

RESEARCH AND SOCIETAL IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS

Probing quantum materials with the thermal Hall effect

The thermal Hall effect — or the appearance of a temperature gradient in a material when a magnetic field is applied — has emerged as a potentially powerful new probe of quantum materials. A collaborative Catalyst Fund project led by Quebec-based program Co-Director researcher Louis Taillefer and four program collaborators, who contributed both experimental and theoretical expertise, aims to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms that can give rise to a thermal Hall effect in materials.

Determining a new quantum limit for electrons in “strange” metals

While physicists understand how most metals resist the passage of an electric current, there are some “strange” metals in which electrical resistance is very different in ways existing microscopic theories do not explain. CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar Brad Ramshaw (Cornell University) and program Co-Director Louis Taillefer (Université de Sherbrooke) measured the time between two electron collisions in a strange metal (the resistance) and made a surprising finding: the time measured between electron collisions varies with temperature. This dependence is given by Planck’s constant — a fundamental unit of the quantum world. This exciting finding reveals a new fundamental limit of electron behaviour and, further, may reveal a fundamental and universal truth about the universe and the way particles behave.

Building the foundation for new quantum technologies

Inspired by the discussions and interactions at Quantum Materials program meetings, and using the Catalyst Fund as a basis of support, Fellows Andrea Damascelli (University of British Columbia), Pablo Jarillo-Herrero (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Joshua Folk (University of British Columbia) developed Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) infrastructure at the University of British Columbia’s Quantum Materials Lab. ARPES is the preeminent probe of quantum materials owing to its ability to directly visualize the electronic band structure and allow for a collaborative research effort to study the properties of stacked 2D quantum devices. This apparatus is critical as micron-scale devices have proved challenging to use, as only a handful of international user-based synchrotron facilities have this capability.

Designing an efficient new catalyst

Searching for high-efficiency, low-cost catalysts based on Earth-abundant elements, Fellows Liang Fu (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Claudia Felser (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids) investigated the chemical properties of a moiré metal for hydrogen evolution reaction — the production of hydrogen through the splitting of water. They showed that the local shift of metallic atoms introduces a variation in surface hydrogen bonding strength and leads to the spatially dependent Gibbs free energy for hydrogen absorption. They predict that their designed catalyst can exceed the efficiency of platinum, which currently holds the current record.


SELECTED PAPERS

Ohtomo, A., and H.Y. Hwang, H.Y. "A high-mobility electron gas at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterointerface." Nature 427 (2004) : 423-426. ABSTRACT

Doiron-Leyraud, N. et al. "Quantum oscillations and the Fermi surface in an underdoped high-Tc superconductor." Nature 447 (200&) : 565-568. ABSTRACT

Dalidovich, D. et al. “Spin structure factor of the frustrated quantum magnet Cs2CuCl4,” Physical Review B73, 18 (2006). ABSTRACT

LeBoeuf, D. et al. “Electron pockets in the Fermi surface of hole-doped high-Tc superconductors,” Nature 450 (2007). ABSTRACT

Daou, R. et al. “Broken rotational symmetry in the pseudogap phase of a high-Tc superconductor,” Nature463 (2010) : 519-522. ABSTRACT

Comin, R. et al. “Charge Order Driven by Fermi-Arc Instability in Bi2Sr2−xLaxCuO6+δ,” Science 343, 6169 (2014): 390-392. ABSTRACT

Path to Societal Impact

We invite experts in industry, civil society, healthcare and government to join fellows in our Quantum Materials program for in-depth, cross-sectoral conversations that drive change and innovation.

Government funders and policymakers, leaders at major research infrastructure facilities and universities, and industry, and CIFAR fellows in the Quantum Materials program are developing a national strategy to rebuild Canada’s capacity for materials research using neutron beams.

Area of focus:

  • Developing a pan-Canadian, university-led framework for stewardship of Canada’s neutron beam infrastructure

 

Founded In

1987

Renewal Dates

1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, 2019

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Condensed matter and quantum physics
Atomic, chemical and computational physics
Nanomaterials and materials engineering

Contact

Daniel Bacinello

Fellows & Advisors

Program Directors

Leon Balents

Leon Balents

Program Co-Director

Quantum Materials
University of California Santa Barbara
United States
Louis Taillefer

Louis Taillefer

Program Co-Director

Quantum Materials
Université de Sherbrooke
Canada

Fellows

James Analytis

James Analytis

Fellow

Quantum Materials
University of California Berkeley
United States
N. Peter Armitage

N. Peter Armitage

Fellow

Quantum Materials
Johns Hopkins University
United States
Andrea Damascelli

Andrea Damascelli

Fellow

Quantum Materials
University of British Columbia
Canada
Claudia Felser

Claudia Felser

Fellow

Quantum Materials
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Germany
Joshua Folk

Joshua Folk

Fellow

Quantum Materials
University of British Columbia
Canada
Marcel Franz

Marcel Franz

Fellow

Quantum Materials
University of British Columbia
Canada
Liang Fu

Liang Fu

Fellow

Quantum Materials
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States
Bruce D. Gaulin

Bruce D. Gaulin

Fellow

Quantum Materials
McMaster University
Canada
Pablo Jarillo-Herrero

Pablo Jarillo-Herrero

Fellow

Quantum Materials
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States
Hae-Young Kee

Hae-Young Kee

Fellow

Quantum Materials
University of Toronto
Canada
Vidya Madhavan

Vidya Madhavan

Fellow

Quantum Materials
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
United States
Satoru Nakatsuji

Satoru Nakatsuji

Fellow

Quantum Materials
Johns Hopkins University
University of Tokyo
Japan
United States
Johnpierre Paglione

Johnpierre Paglione

Fellow

Quantum Materials
University of Maryland
United States
Subir Sachdev

Subir Sachdev

Fellow

Quantum Materials
Harvard University
United States

Advisors

Nigel Hussey

Nigel Hussey

Advisory Committee Chair

Quantum Materials
Radboud University
University of Bristol
The Netherlands
United Kingdom
Allan Macdonald

Allan Macdonald

Advisor

Quantum Materials
University of Texas at Austin
United States
André-Marie Tremblay

André-Marie Tremblay

Advisor

Quantum Materials
Université de Sherbrooke
Canada
Roser Valentí

Roser Valentí

Advisor

Quantum Materials
Goethe University Frankfurt
Germany
Amir Yacoby

Amir Yacoby

Advisor

Quantum Materials
Harvard University
United States

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars

Zakaria Al Balushi

Zakaria Al Balushi

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024

Quantum Materials
University of California Berkeley
United States
Kwabena Bediako

Kwabena Bediako

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022

Quantum Materials
University of California Berkeley
United States
Judy Cha

Judy Cha

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2017-2019

Quantum Materials
Cornell University
United States
Alex Frañó

Alex Frañó

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024

Quantum Materials
University of California San Diego
United States
Alannah Hallas

Alannah Hallas

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022

Quantum Materials
University of British Columbia
Canada
Qiong Ma

Qiong Ma

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024

Quantum Materials
Boston College
United States
Brad Ramshaw

Brad Ramshaw

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022

Quantum Materials
Cornell University
United States
Kate A. Ross

Kate A. Ross

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018

Quantum Materials
Colorado State University
United States
Luyi Yang

Luyi Yang

CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018

Quantum Materials
Tsinghua University
China

Recent News

Web-1

Advances

A new quantum limit for electrons

July 28, 2021
technology illustration final

Event Brief

Canadian Neutron Initiative Roundtable: Towards a National Neutron Strategy

March 17, 2021
technology illustration orange

Industry & Technology

Neutron scattering for quantum materials research

January 13, 2021
Quantum Materials

Award

Pablo Jarillo-Herrero honoured with Buckley Prize

October 22, 2019
mourns tragic plane

In Memoriam

In Memoriam: Jules Carbotte (1938-2019)

April 15, 2019
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