Summary
Quantum materials that exhibit strong electron correlations lead to phenomena, such as superconductivity and topologically protected states, that are important for quantum computation, sensing, and other applications. For example, we may utilize symmetry protected topological states to make qubits that are robust against decoherence, while advances in high temperature superconductors may significantly reduce losses in power distribution. However, key gaps remain in our understanding of cuprates and other strongly correlated materials.
In this project we will develop an Angle Resolved Inverse Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARIPES) tool and use it to probe unoccupied electronic states of such materials. Our objectives are to identify the correct theoretical descriptions of cuprates and other correlated materials and search for hallmarks of topological materials, such as Dirac and Weyl nodes. Furthermore, with this tool we will produce momentum-resolved maps of the unoccupied bands. This project will develop Canada’s only operational ARIPES tool, and is expected to rapidly develop our understanding of quantum materials.
Figure 1. Ultra-high vacuum angle resolved inverse photoemission instrument in the Quantum Materials Spectroscopy Lab at the University of Waterloo
Related Content
Repurposing potential drug candidates for the treatment of COVID-19
Summary The main protease (Mpro) in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has emerged as a promising drug target. The scientific community has produced a large number of crystallographic structures of the protease, which mediates viral replication and transcription. These structures report several fragments with varied chemotypes […]
May 6, 2020
Implementing High-fidelity Quantum Gates in Multi-level Trapped Ions
Summary The scalability of quantum processors is limited by current error rates for single-qubit gates. By encoding more than a single bit of information within a single ion, multi-level “qudits” offer a promising method of increasing the information density within a quantum processor, and therefore minimizing the number of gates and associated error rates. […]
July 30, 2018
Novel High-Speed Receiver for Quantum Communication and Sensing
Summary An essential aspect of a quantum channel is the detection and analysis of quantum signals in the form of photons. For most free-space applications, the photons are polarization encoded, e.g. by assigning the ‘0’ to horizontally polarized photons and ‘1’ to vertically polarized photons. However, where the geometric reference is not constant at all […]
January 1, 2019
Zero-Dimensional Quantum Materials for the Next Generation of Highly-Selective Chemical Sensors
Summary Heavy metals are a major public health concern and their on-site detection in water supplies is not well served by existing lab techniques. We develop a new multi-modal platform comprising functionalized quantum dots of two-dimensional materials (2D-QDs) for the sensing of four highly-toxic heavy metal pollutants (arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury). The zero-dimensional […]
March 11, 2019