Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Layered Quantum van der Waals Solids are the Mille Feuille pastries of Condensed Matter Physics. Like their tasty dessert analogues, they exist in countless exotic varieties with properties determined by, but often very different from, the constituent layers from which they are formed. In the proposed research, we will use laser spectroscopy to discover new relationships between the elastic, structural and electronic properties of quantum van der Waals solids and related materials by probing collective motions of the constituent atoms (so-called "phonons").  Systems to be studied include layered high-temperature superconductors, layered minerals found on Earth and other terrestrial planets and ultrathin layers. The research results will fill a gap in our fundamental understanding of condensed matter by quantifying new phonon physics associated with the interplay between the elastic, structural, and electronic properties of these systems over a wide range of temperatures and sample forms ranging from bulk crystals to ultrathin films in an energy range inaccessible to other techniques. This knowledge is critical to the development and refinement of theoretical models of superconductivity, excitations in aperiodic and low-dimensional materials, phase transitions, geophysical processes, and the complex dynamics of incommensurate systems. In line with all three pillars of Canada's National Quantum Strategy (i.e., Research, Talent, and Commercialization) and Canada's Critical Minerals Strategy in focus area "Driving research, innovation, and exploration", the proposed research will provide important socio-economic and environmental benefits to help Canada become a leader in science and engineering of materials and technologies critical to the emerging digital economy, the global green energy transition, and improving human health. These include (i) new knowledge on quantum materials and critical minerals that will form the basis of new quantum and clean energy technologies (quantum computers, longer-lasting electric vehicle batteries, more efficient solar cells and turbines, and novel elastic energy devices) (ii) advancements in laser spectroscopy as a medical diagnostic tool based on its ability to differentiate healthy and diseased tissue via differences in measured properties, and (iii) highly-trained personnel with expertise in the synthesis, processing, and application of these futuristic materials and the associated specialized analytical techniques.