Advanced metrologies and instrumentations for the ultrafast characterization of quantum materials

想象一下，冬天戴着宽网羊毛连指手套的手，与现代材料保护的手相比，它们不仅能保持皮肤干燥和温暖，还能给手机充电。这与未来技术如何从目前处于研究前沿的新型所谓量子材料中获利类似。这些材料能够将量子效应传输到我们的宏观世界，无论是用于新的计量学还是用于光子学、电子学或电信行业的设备。然而，要利用这些特征，需要深入的表征，这在很大程度上受到当前计量学的限制，需要新的发展。拟议中的项目将允许来自INRS-EMT及其工业合作伙伴量子谷投资（QVI）的研究人员创建这种新的计量方法。量子谷投资是一个开发量子材料的智库。这需要将传统的基于实验室的超快时间分辨率与短波长的粒子（光子和电子）相结合。完全进入这种量子材料的内部需要良好控制的XUV/软x射线光子和超快电子束的结合。通过x射线脉冲，材料的电子将被表征，而电子束提供互补的晶格信息。在位于Varennes （Qc）的ALLS工厂，这两种材料都是过去生产的，并将在当前的研究计划中进行成型，以满足这种新材料表征所必需的高要求。该项目的一个重要组成部分将是将计量-高通量谐波源-转移到QVI在滑铁卢（安大略省）的研发设施。一旦计量被设定，它们将被应用和验证，以研究与QVI高度相关的材料的动力学。拟议的计量/仪器和高素质人才培训将有助于加拿大保持在快速发展的“量子革命”的前沿，从而增强其在关键领域的领先地位，这些领域至关重要需要强大的量子计算和计量平台，如先进的环境传感，高精度化学分析和增加的安全协议。

Imagine hands covered in wide-meshed woolen mittens in winter compared to those protected by modern materials that keep the skin dry and warm and additionally charge your phone. This gives an analogy to how future technologies can profit from new so-called quantum materials that are currently at the forefront of research. These materials are capable of transmitting quantum effects into our macroscopic world, be it for new metrologies or devices used in photonics, electronics or telecommunication industries. To exploit such features however requires in-depth characterization which is greatly limited with current metrologies and calls for new developments. The proposed project will allow researchers from INRS-EMT and its industrial partner Quantum Valley Investments (QVI) - a think-tank developing quantum materials, to create such new metrologies. This requires the combination of conventional laboratory based ultrafast temporal resolution with short wavelength particles (photons and electrons). Fully accessing the interior of such quantum materials demands a combination of well controlled XUV/soft X-ray photons and ultrafast electron bunches. With the X-ray pulses the material's electrons will be characterized, while the electron bunches provide complementary lattice information. At the ALLS facility located in Varennes (Qc), both have been produced in the past and will be shaped within the current research proposal to meet the high requirements necessary for such new material characterization. An important component of this project will be the transfer of a metrology - a high flux harmonic source - to QVI's R&D facility in Waterloo (On). Once the metrologies are set, they will be applied and validated for studying dynamics in materials of high relevance to QVI. The proposed metrologies/instrumentations and the training of highly-qualified personnel will contribute to keep Canada at the forefront of the rapidly moving "quantum revolution", thereby enhancing its leading position across critical sectors that vitally require powerful quantum computation and metrology platforms, such as advanced environmental sensing, high-precision chemical analysis, and increased security protocols.