Grant: Alliance Grants

This research proposal aims to tackle two of the biggest challenges in the field of quantum materials today, namely the pseudogap phase of cuprate superconductors and Planckian dissipation in strange metals. Our experimental approach is to use the microwave expertise developed in the field of quantum sensing by the Reulet Group at Sherbrooke (Canada) and the high-magnetic-field expertise developed at the LNCMI in Toulouse (France) by the Proust Group to have access to the highest fields in the world. We will also use the powerful new expertise in angle-dependent magnetoresistance developed by Grissonnanche (Paris, France) and in thermal Hall conductivity by the Taillefer Group at Sherbrooke. The overall team of 11 researchers - including 4 principal investigators, 3 research professionals, 2 new postdoctoral associates and 2 new co-supervised PhD students (the latter 4 to be recruited in 2024-2025) - will benefit greatly from being part of the Institut quantique, one of the leading centers in quantum science and technology in Canada, the heart of a vibrant quantum ecosystem around Sherbrooke. They will have access to state-of-the-art equipment in shared platforms and in the Reulet and Taillefer labs, soon to be enhanced by new equipment acquired with a new 11.7 M$ CFI grant in 2024 (Taillefer & Reulet, as leader and co-applicant). The Sherbrooke-France collaboration will be supported by the IRL Quantum Frontiers created by the French CNRS in 2022, e.g. by covering travel costs, summer schools, joint meetings, and half the salary of our new co-supervised PhD students.