Tailoring the properties of quantum materials: Carrier density, spin interaction, and topological protection.

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Modern science and technology rely on materials whose usefulness depends on their electronic properties. Semiconductors, for example, are the foundation for the world's computer and telecommunications industries. The frontier of modern solid-state physics lies in understanding the properties of those materials whose physical properties, as a direct consequence of many-body quantum-mechanical interactions, differ spectacularly from those of conventional metals and insulators. These "quantum materials" manifest a wide range of astonishing electronic and magnetic phenomena that embody the central scientific questions challenging the field of condensed matter physics, such as high-temperature superconductivity, colossal magnetoresistance, myriad forms of magnetism and ferroelectricity, and novel admixtures of these states. At UBC in my Quantum Materials Lab, thanks to a team of talented students, postdocs, and research staff, we have in the past 5 years succeeded in developing innovative spectroscopic tools and methods than can reveal - with unprecedented accuracy - which electrons in quantum materials are free to move, and how this motion can give rise to novel spin and orbital entanglements. We have also developed "in-situ" approaches - in dedicated material fabrication chambers - to control the physical properties of quantum materials in both single-crystal and thin-film forms: for instance, we have achieved major breakthroughs in tuning the number of carriers in unconventional superconductors, and also the spin-splitting in novel topological insulators. Over the next 5 years, we aim to combine our state-of-the-art spectroscopic capabilities with our ability to elicit and tune microscopic phenomena at two key locations: at the UBC Quantum Materials Lab, and at the Quantum Materials Spectroscopy Center that my group is bringing online at the Canadian Light Source. By tailoring carrier density, spin interaction, and topological protection, our goal is to realize new quantum materials that are both scientifically interesting and technologically critical for the next-generation of applications in consumer electronics, telecommunications, computing, and renewable energy.