New Frontiers in Magnetic Quantum Materials

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The eras in human history are named for the materials that defined them, from the bronze age, to the iron age, to the current silicon age. We may now be at the precipice of the age of quantum materials. Quantum materials have remarkable structural, electrical, and magnetic properties derived from intense quantum mechanical effects. Just as silicon-based technologies revolutionized almost all aspects of life over the last half century, quantum materials have the potential to revolutionize a wide range of fields, from computing (quantum computing with Majorana modes), to medicine (ultra-sensitive sensors for neurology applications), to transportation (high-performance supercapacitor electrodes to extend the range of electric vehicles). The overarching aim of this research program is to discover new quantum materials and establish structure-function relationships that will accelerate progress towards unlocking new technologies. In parallel with these scientific impacts, this research program will also provide training to graduate students and postdocs who will be ideally equipped to work in emerging industries based on quantum materials. The core of my research program at the University of British Columbia is an interdisciplinary approach to the design, synthesis, and characterization of new quantum materials using state-of-the-art crystal growth techniques. In addition to solid state and flux growth, our group will be the first in Canada operating a high-pressure multi-anvil apparatus for quantum materials research. This apparatus will allow us to synthesize materials under extreme conditions: pressures up to 250,000 times atmospheric pressure and temperatures up to 3000 C. We will also operate a suite of floating zone image furnaces, including Canada's first laser diode image furnace, that will be used to grow pristine, large single crystals. This unique and comprehensive set of crystal growth capabilities will enable the discovery of new materials that were formerly unobtainable due to synthetic barriers. We then characterize the magnetic and electronic properties of these new quantum materials using a suite of in-house (susceptibility, heat capacity and resistivity) and facility-based (neutron scattering and muon spin relaxation) techniques. In the next five years, this research program will focus on emerging topics where materials innovations are poised to have the most significant impact. The first of these considers the unification of two of the most important classes of quantum materials: strongly correlated metals and frustrated magnets, each of which has independently yielded remarkable new states of matter. We will establish a materials foundation to explore the burgeoning topic of metallic frustration. The second theme, magnetic high entropy oxides, will be used to explore magnetism in the limit of extreme disorder. These magnetic high entropy oxides exhibit tremendous promise for applications such as multiferroic functionality.