Cuprate superconductors as ultra quantum matter : New tools and discoveries
Plankian dissipation and the new topological superconducting state will be the two phenomena that the research team will study, with the goal of shedding light on electron pairing in cuprates and the nature of the pseudogap phase.
Their findings could revolutionize the energy, health and transportation sectors, and the technologies developed could be applied to other classes of quantum materials, or even to artificial systems and materials.
What is your project?
Answer some of the biggest questions in quantum science :
- How do we raise the maximum temperature at which materials are superconducting?
- Is there a quantum limit on the collision time between two electrons in a metal?
- What is the nature of the most mysterious phase of quantum matter – the pseudogap phase?
By studying – experimentally and theoretically – a very rich type of material: superconducting cuprates.
Who are the members of your team and what expertise do they bring to the project?
Four experimenters :
- Patrick Fournier (long expertise in cuprate physics)
- Jeffrey Quilliam (new experimental)
- Bertrand Reulet (new experimental)
- Louis Taillefer (long expertise in cuprate physics)
Four theorists :
- Claude Bourbonnais (new theoretical expertise)
- Ion Garate (new theoretical expertise)
- David Sénéchal (long expertise in cuprate physics)
- André-Marie Tremblay (long expertise in cuprate physics)
How is your project ambitious (how does it differ from your usual projects)?
It tackles the biggest questions in quantum science and it innovates by using new approaches – experimental and theoretical – to answer these questions.
What is the role of the Institut quantique in your project?
- IQ brings together the three types of experts needed: a) experimentalists, b) theoreticians, c) synthesis
- IQ offers the best infrastructure in the country – low temperature, numerical computation, etc.
- IQ brings together two fields whose interface will be very useful to us: materials and quantum circuits.
- IQ attracts and supports excellent young researchers – postdocs and professionals.
What will your project contribute to society?
- Room temperature superconductivity would be a major technological revolution.
- A new type of superconductor – topological – could lead to a new paradigm for quantum information.