Quantum Materials
How could quantum materials transform our society?
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.
IMPACT CLUSTERS
The Quantum Materials program is part of the following CIFAR Impact Cluster: Exploring Emerging Technologies. CIFAR’s research programs are organized into 5 distinct Impact Clusters that address significant global issues and are committed to fostering an environment in which breakthroughs emerge.
RESEARCH AND SOCIETAL IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS
Shedding light on the 'dark phase' of superconductors
CIFAR researchers are helping uncover more insights about the pseudogap phase: a mysterious “dark phase” of cuprate superconductors, the most promising class of “high temperature” superconductors that could form the basis for important new technologies. CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar Brad Ramshaw (Cornell University) and Program Co-Director Louis Taillefer (Université de Sherbrooke) showed that transitions in cuprate superconductors from the metallic phase to the pseudogap phase are transformations of their Fermi surface — essentially the “fingerprints” of the materials’ electronic properties — indicating a fundamental change in the materials. Fellow Subir Sachdev (Harvard University) then proposed a theory to explain this change in terms of a new phase of matter.
Advances in superconductivity
CIFAR Fellows Liang Fu (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Pablo Jarillo-Herrero (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) demonstrated that superconductivity is achievable in trilayer twisted graphene quasicrystals — materials that lack true periodicity, normally considered a foundational building block of superconductivity theory. This is a paradigm-shifting discovery that will challenge how scientists understand and create superconducting materials. Meanwhile, Fellows Vidya Madhavan (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and Johnpierre Paglione (University of Maryland) are growing unique crystalline films of the material UTe2, and characterizing them with a technique called scanning tunnelling microscopy. This material may support so-called triplet superconductivity, which is a fascinating new ground for exploring the behaviour of interacting electrons and discovering new materials with potential uses in quantum technologies.
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, 2025
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Condensed matter and quantum physics
Atomic, chemical and computational physics
Nanomaterials and materials engineering
Contact
Fellows & Advisors
Program Directors
Leon Balents
Program Co-Director
Alannah Hallas
Program Co-Director
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
Brad Ramshaw
Program Co-Director
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
Fellows
James Analytis
Fellow
N. Peter Armitage
Fellow
Kwabena Bediako
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
Andrea Damascelli
Fellow
Claudia Felser
Associate Fellow
Joshua Folk
Fellow
Marcel Franz
Fellow
Liang Fu
Associate Fellow
Bruce D. Gaulin
Fellow
Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
Fellow
Hae-Young Kee
Fellow
Adina Luican-Mayer
Fellow
Qiong Ma
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Vidya Madhavan
Fellow
Satoru Nakatsuji
Fellow
University of Tokyo
United States
Johnpierre Paglione
Fellow
Subir Sachdev
Fellow
Louis Taillefer
Fellow
André-Marie Tremblay
Associate Fellow
Advisors
Nigel Hussey
Advisory Committee Chair
University of Bristol
United Kingdom
Allan Macdonald
Advisor
Roser Valentí
Advisor
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars
Zakaria Al Balushi
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Kwabena Bediako
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
Judy Cha
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2017-2019
Alex Frañó
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Alannah Hallas
Program Co-Director
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
Qiong Ma
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2022-2024
Brad Ramshaw
Program Co-Director
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2020-2022
Kate A. Ross
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Luyi Yang
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Recent News
Advances
A new quantum limit for electrons
July 28, 2021
Event Brief
Canadian Neutron Initiative Roundtable: Towards a National Neutron Strategy
March 17, 2021
Industry & Technology
Neutron scattering for quantum materials research
January 13, 2021
Award
Pablo Jarillo-Herrero honoured with Buckley Prize
October 22, 2019
In Memoriam