Understanding and controlling electronic correlation and instability: toward functional quantum matter

理解和控制电子相关性和不稳定性：走向功能量子物质

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-04554
• 负责人: Julian, Stephen
• 金额: $ 5.1万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=611105
• 关键词: Understanding; controlling; electronic; correlation; instability

The development of quantum mechanics in the early 20th century gave us the power to understand and control the properties of materials, such as semiconductors and ferromagnets, that led to the technological revolution that produced computers, high-speed communications devices, remote sensors, and so on. To put it simply, without the several decades of condensed matter research that led to our understanding of semiconductors, the cell phone that you carry around in your pocket would be the size of a house. Our understanding of simple materials such as semiconductors comes from understanding what happens at the atomic scale. Starting in the latter part of the 20th century, however, a new class of materials emerged whose properties are much more subtle, because they result from interactions of vast numbers of electrons spread over distances much larger than an atom. The theory of these so-called "strongly correlated" systems is a deep intellectual problem that may hold the key to the next generation of technology. The goal of our research is to discover and understand these new “emergent” materials, through a combination of chemistry, and measurements at high pressures and high magnetic fields. We believe that the high pressure route in particular offers a good way to discover novel and potentially useful states of materials. The properties that we seek are things like high temperature superconductivity and so-called “topological” states, that may provide electronics with low heat dissipation, or even elements for quantum computation. In the short-term our results will be important to other physicists who are investigating similar materials, but in the longer term it is likely that research on strongly correlated materials will lead to breakthrough technologies. Indeed this is already happening, for example, with high temperature superconductors that are leading to important advances in magnet technology, which will greatly improve magnetic resonance probes used in biomedical research. Our results will be published in scientific journals, however the benefits of our research are only partly in the knowledge gained: even more important are the people who we train in advanced materials science research, who can help to establish a thriving materials science industry in Canada.

世纪初量子力学的发展，让我们有了理解和控制半导体、铁磁体等材料性质的能力，从而引发了产生计算机、高速通信设备、遥感器等的技术革命，简单来说，如果没有几十年凝聚态研究让我们对半导体有了认识，你放在口袋里的手机就有房子那么大。 我们对半导体等简单材料的理解来自于对原子尺度下发生的事情的理解。然而，从世纪后半叶开始，出现了一类新的材料，它们的性质要微妙得多，因为它们是由分布在比原子大得多的距离上的大量电子相互作用产生的。这些所谓的“强相关”系统的理论是一个深层次的知识问题，可能是下一代技术的关键。 我们研究的目标是通过化学和高压高磁场下的测量相结合，发现和理解这些新的“涌现”材料。我们认为，高压路线特别提供了一种发现新的和潜在有用的材料状态的好方法。我们所寻求的性质是高温超导性和所谓的“拓扑”状态，这可能会为电子产品提供低散热，甚至是量子计算的元素。 在短期内，我们的研究结果将对其他研究类似材料的物理学家很重要，但从长远来看，对强相关材料的研究可能会导致突破性技术。事实上，这已经发生了，例如，高温超导体正在导致磁体技术的重要进步，这将大大改善生物医学研究中使用的磁共振探针。 我们的研究成果将发表在科学期刊上，但我们的研究成果仅部分体现在所获得的知识上：更重要的是我们在先进材料科学研究方面培养的人才，他们可以帮助在加拿大建立一个蓬勃发展的材料科学产业。