The development of modern technologies in all fields highly relies on the physical properties of materials. The vast majority of materials’ properties cannot be fully understood with classical physics or single-atom behavior alone. Instead, it involves the understanding of collective motions and excitations with strong correlations using quantum physics, which redefines these materials as “quantum materials”.
This talk will be presented with an introduction to the big picture and grand challenges that need to be addressed by physicists in each of the following three families of quantum materials, i.e. unconventional superconductors, quantum spin liquids, and topological materials. Then I will dive into the details of how we tackle these questions using thermal transport [1-7], electrical transport [8], torque magnetometry [9,10], and thermoelectric measurements [11] at extremely low temperatures and strong magnetic fields. This talk will highlight how an old physics question could lead to discoveries in a brand-new field, and how novel instrumentation development could lead to new physics.
[1] L. Chen*, M.-E. Boulanger* et al., PNAS 119, e2208016119 (2022)
[2] M.-E. Boulanger*, L. Chen* et al., arXiv:2310.15892
[3] Ashvini Vallipuram*, L. Chen* et al., arXiv:2310.10643
[4] L. Chen*, É. Lefrançois* et al., arXiv:2309.17231
[5] L. Chen et al., arXiv:2310.07696
[6] L. Chen et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 114, 251904 (2019)
[7] L. Chen et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 113, 061902 (2018)
[8] L. Chen et al., Scattering rate in the electron-doped cuprate Nd2-xCexCuO4 : an angle-dependent magnetoresistance study in the Planckian regime, in preparation
[9] L. Chen et al., Phys. Rev. Applied. 9, 024005 (2018)
[10] Z. Xiang, L. Chen et al., Nat. Phys. 102, 054503 (2020)
[11] L. Chen et al., Phys. Rev. B 102, 054503 (2020)
