Coherent exploration and manipulation of quantum materials

在量子材料系统中，电子和结构自由度的长程相干，加上强烈的相互作用，产生了新的物质量子相，处于现代科学的前沿。它们的基本激发让人们得以一窥即使是最先进的粒子加速器也无法企及的罕见现象，它们在日常生活中的技术应用也数不胜数，从手机和电动汽车中的锂离子电池，到核磁共振成像机中的超导线圈，以及高清晰度电视屏幕中的量子点。然而，其他量子材料，例如高温超导体，体现了现代物理学中悬而未决的问题，在它们被发现近30年后，仍然无法得到我们的充分理解。 在我在不列颠哥伦比亚大学的研究小组中，我们开发了最先进的高分辨率光谱工具，利用可见光、紫外线和x射线辐射来探测这些量子材料在凝聚态物理前沿的表面和本体电子性质。例如，在最近的发现资助期间，我们使用了新的脉冲激光和同步加速器测量能力，对铜酸盐中电子的自组织以及Ruthenate和铁基超导体中的相对论效应进行了开创性的实验。总而言之，这些成果为我们理解非常规和高温超导做出了重大贡献。此外，使用我的团队首创的原位表面操纵技术，我们能够将二维半金属石墨烯转变为超导体，这是一项技术突破。 在这个项目中，与我的有才华的学生、博士后和研究人员组成的团队，我们寻求在量子材料的平衡和动态光谱研究的成功的基础上，同时扩展到量子操纵的新领域。为此，我们试图通过吸附原子沉积、多轴应变和不同波长的脉冲激光源来建立对晶体和电子结构的相干控制。通过这种多管齐下的方法，我们可能会继续探索更广泛的科学界对智力和技术感兴趣的新型量子材料，将固态的已知极限推向量子物质的全新阶段。

Quantum materials systems wherein long-range coherence in the electronic and structural degrees of freedom, in concert with strong interactions, give rise to new quantum phases of matter lie at the forefront of modern science. Their fundamental excitations yield glimpses into rare phenomena beyond the reach of even the most advanced particle accelerators, and their technological applications in daily life are myriad, ranging from Li-ion batteries in cell phones and electric vehicles, superconductive coils in MRI machines, and quantum dots in high-definition television screens. Yet other quantum materials, such as for example high-temperature superconductors, embody the outstanding open questions in modern physics and continue to elude our full understanding, nearly three decades after their discovery. In my research group based at UBC, we develop state-of-the-art, high-resolution spectroscopic tools employing visible, ultraviolet, and x-ray radiation to probe the surface and bulk electronic properties of these quantum materials at the frontier of condensed matter physics. For example, during the most recent Discovery Grant period, we used new pulsed laser and synchrotron measurement capabilities to perform groundbreaking experiments on self-organization of electrons in cuprates, as well as relativistic effects in ruthenates and iron-based superconductors. Together, these achievements provided major contributions to our understanding of unconventional and high-temperature superconductivity. Additionally, using in situ surface manipulation techniques pioneered in my group, we were able to turn graphene a 2D semi-metal into a superconductor, a technological breakthrough. In this program, with my team of talented students, postdocs, and research staff we seek to build upon successes in both the equilibrium and dynamical spectroscopic study of quantum materials while expanding into new territories of quantum manipulation. To do so, we seek to establish coherent control of both crystal and electronic structures via adatom deposition, multiaxial strain, and pulsed laser sources of various wavelengths. By this multipronged approach, we may continue to explore novel quantum materials of both intellectual and technological interest to the wider scientific community, pushing the known limits of solid state towards altogether new phases of quantum matter.