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Quantum Mechanics Runs Hot in a Cold Plasma
SBQMI researchers have found a new system that could help yield ‘warmer’ quantum technologies. In the latest issue of Physical Review Letters, chemical physicist Ed Grant and theoretical physicist John Sous describe the results of an experiment in which laser pulses gently lift a large number of molecules in a gas of nitric oxide to […]
SBQMI Researchers Invent New Method to Create Self-tinting Windows
SBQMI and UBC chemistry researchers have developed a simple, cost-effective technique for making smart windows that could lead the way for wide-scale adoption of this energy-saving technology. Smart windows conserve building energy by switching from clear to tinted, dynamically controlling heat and light from the sun, depending on the building and occupants’ needs. “Conventional windows […]
Casimir Kuzyk’s ‘aweSEM Device’ In Finals of Innovation OnBoard Contest
Kudos to Casimir Kuzyk, SBQMI student, on making the finals of the UBC Innovation onBoard pitching competition! The finals will be held on February 8th, 2018, 6PM at the Jack Poole Hall, Robert Lee Alumni Centre. He will be presenting his inexpensive scanning electron microscope project, named the ‘aweSEM device’. He is pursuing a patent for his […]
New faculty member Dr. Ziliang Ye has joined us from Stanford University
http://ye.physics.ubc.ca/
53rd Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference
Recently, research associate James Day and graduate student Ketty Na were in Ottawa, Ontario, attending the 53rd Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference, which is the largest undergraduate physics conference in Canada. Carleton University hosted this year’s CUPC, from October 20th to 24th, for Canada’s 150th anniversary and Carleton’s 75th anniversary. James and Ketty were there to represent—and […]
SBQMI Physicists Receive Over $6 Million from CFI for Research
SBQMI physics investigators George Sawatzky and Sarah Burke will receive funding to develop a quantum materials electron microscopy centre and a four-probe scanning probe microscope, respectively. The new equipment will enable the researchers to probe the mysteries of quantum materials, which have the potential to transform information processing, nanoelectronics, medicine, and energy production. Both projects, […]
Rob Kiefl Awarded Prestigious 2017 Yamazaki Prize
Congratulations to Professor Rob Kiefl, who has been awarded the 2017 Yamazaki Prize by the International Society for mSR Spectroscopy (ISMS). Rob received the prize for his development and use of μSR and also beta-detected nuclear magnetic resonance (b-NMR) in the area of condensed matter physics. His contributions to the field have had a significant impact […]
Sarah Burke Awarded $800,000 In Research Funding
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Sarah Burke for being awarded $800,000 from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF). The JELF helps a select number of exceptional researchers at institutions across the country to conduct leading-edge research by giving them the tools and equipment they need to be or […]
Verna J Kirkness Scholars Hosted by SBQMI
During the week of May 15-19, 2017 Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute hosted the participants of Verna J. Kirkness Engineering and Science Program. Three students from Rorketon, Manitoba — Madison Mazier, Brigitte Swampy, Kaleb Geisen — and Alanna Eastman from Alberta had the opportunity to work with Ph.D. students Marta Zonno and Pascal Nigge from […]
2017 Canadian Physics Olympiad Students Visit SBQMI
On Tuesday, May 24, 2017, the students participating in the national finals of the Canadian Physics Olympiad at UBC were invited to visit the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute and, accompanied by Dr. Andrzej Kotlicki, participated in a tour of the new facilities. Led by Research Associates James Day and Georgio Levy, the group visited […]
International Partnership Advances Quantum Materials Research & Innovation
The University of Tokyo has formally joined the SBQMI, UBC and the Max Planck Society in an international partnership designed to advance quantum materials research and innovation. The new partnership will create the Max Planck – UBC – UTokyo Centre for Quantum Materials, an expansion of the original Max Planck-UBC Centre for Quantum Materials, established in 2010. UTokyo […]
SBQMI Hosts Science Fair Participants
On Friday 7 April, Walter Hardy hosted a dozen visitors to the SBQMI for a “Low Temperatures and Superconductivity” lab tour. The visitors were high school students, on campus to compete in the 2017 Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair, hosted by UBC. In the picture, Walter is showing superconductivity with a table-top demo. Using liquid […]
Ellen Schelew Wins 3rd Place & People’s Choice Award for 3-Minute Thesis
Ellen Schelew (left), who received an honourable mention, with Michele Murphy. Congratulations to SBQMI’s graduate student Ellen Schelew (her supervisor is Jeff Young) for placing third in the UBC 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition. Her talk, “Secure Communication with Quantum Information,” also received People’s Choice Award during the PHAS heat of the 3MT. 3MT is […]
Quantum Levitation Track Created by St. George’s Students
Tobin Gladders and Joshua Dar Santos, the 12- year old grade 7 students from St.George’s School in Vancouver visited Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (QMI) to get professional advice on how to construct a small-scale prototype of a quantum levitation track. The result of their work can be seen here. Tobin and Joshua presented their […]
SBQMI at 2017 BC Tech Summit, March 14-15, 2017
The BC Tech Summit is a two-day event celebrating BC technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. The conference features dynamic speakers and interactive sessions, and covers the most important topics affecting today’s technology leaders and experts. On the opening day of the summit, Andrea Damascelli delivered a talk at the plenary session: “The Quantum Effect: How BC Tech […]
Young Physics Enthusiasts from St. George’s School Visit SBQMI
It was a great pleasure to welcome Tobin Gladders and Joshua Dar Santos, the 12- year old grade 7 students from St. George’s School in Vancouver at Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (QMI). St. George’s School is famous for organizing an annual science fair called Wonder Expo where students present ways of improving human lives and […]
Quantum: The Exhibition
Quantum information technologies are poised to again transform how we live, work and play. QUANTUM: The Exhibition is the first-ever travelling show exhibition on quantum information science and technology. The Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (SBQMI) is pleased to be the Presenting Sponsor of the exhibition for its BC showing at Science World. Visitors to […]
Stewart Blusson – Specially Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
We are pleased to announce that the Royal Society of Canada will honour Stewart Blusson this year with the title of Specially Elected Fellow. Founded in 1882, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) comprises the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences; in addition to Canada’s first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for the emerging generation of […]
Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute Launched with $11-Million Gift
Vancouver-based diamond pioneer and philanthropist Stewart Blusson and his wife, Marilyn, have donated $11 million to quantum materials research at UBC. In recognition of the gift, the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute has been named in honour of the geology alumnus (BSc ’60). “This institute is already bringing the next generation of top researchers to […]
Canada First Research Excellence Fund Unlocks $66.5 Million In Quantum Potential at UBC
After decades of success as a leading research institution despite a relatively small budget, UBC’s Quantum Matter Institute is poised to make its way to the front of the international field thanks to a record $66.5 million grant from the federal government. In August they learned that they were one of just five institutions awarded […]
Federal government invests $66.5-million for quantum materials research at QMI
A $66.5-million investment from the Government of Canada—the largest government investment in a single UBC research program—will enhance UBC’s standing as a global leader in quantum matter research and help connect university research with industry. UBC’s Quantum Matter Institute (QMI), the recipient of the $66.5-million investment over seven years from the new Canada First Research […]
Organic semiconductors get weird at the edge: QMI research
As the push for tinier and faster electronics continues, a new finding by UBC scientists could help inform the design of the next generation of cheaper, more efficient devices. The work, published this week in Nature Communications, details how electronic properties at the edges of organic molecular systems differ from the rest of the material. […]
First superconducting graphene created by QMI researchers
Graphene, the ultra-thin, ultra-strong material made from a single layer of carbon atoms, just got a little more extreme. UBC physicists have been able to create the first ever superconducting graphene sample by coating it with lithium atoms. Although superconductivity has already been observed in intercalated bulk graphite—three-dimensional crystals layered with alkali metal atoms, based […]
$2.4 million dollars awarded to QMI projects
Two major proposals from the Quantum Matter Institute are funded by the BC Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF) this year. This means an injection of 2.4 million dollars of funding support for learning about quantum material behaviours and discovering new quantum materials. The two projects funded are: ◦Quantum Materials and Devices in the Microkelvin Regime will […]
Alumnus Riccardo Comin receives CLS Bancroft PhD Thesis Award
Congratulations to Dr. Riccardo Comin, who recently completed his PhD under supervisor Dr. Andrea Damascelli, for receiving the the G. Michael Bancroft PhD Thesis Award from the Canadian Light Source. This annual award is given to a graduate student who generates the strongest published work using data collected at the Canadian Light Source synchrontron, located […]
Ian Affleck receives the 2014 Brockhouse Medal
The 2014 CAP/DCMMP Brockhouse Medal will be awarded to Ian Affleck, University of British Columbia, for his original and influential contributions to the theory of condensed matter systems, particularly in the application of conformal field theory techniques to the Kondo effects and quantum impurity problems and advances in the theory of quantum magnetism in low […]
Dirk Manske is a new Scientific Coordinator for the Max Planck-UBC Centre for Quantum Materials
Dr. Dirk Manske has been appointed as a Scientific Coordinator for the Max Planck-UBC Centre for Quantum Materials. Dr. Manske is a Staff Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart and is holding a Professor of Theoretical Physics position at the Free University of Berlin. His field of research is in […]
QMI researchers discover possible secret to superconductivity
UBC researchers have discovered a universal electronic state that controls the behavior of high-temperature superconducting copper-oxide ceramics. The work, published this week in the journal Science, reveals the universal existence of so-called ‘charge-density-waves’ — static ripples formed by the self-organization of electrons in the material’s normal state. These ripples carry the seeds out of which […]
Mona Berciu receives Canadian Association of Physicists Medal
Congratulations to Dr. Mona Berciu for receiving a medal from the Canadian Association of Physicists. Dr. Mona Berciu was awarded this year’s CAP Medal for Excellence in Teaching Undergraduate Physics. According to CAP, these medals honour faculty members who have a comprehensive knowledge and deep understanding of their subject and who possess an exceptional ability […]
Joerg Rottler received UBC faculty research award
Congratulations to Dr. Joerg Rottler for receiving the UBC Killam Faculty Research Fellowship (Junior Category). Joerg’s areas of research include condensed matter and computational physics. Before joining UBC, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University.
Ultra-fast laser pulses shed light on elusive superconducting mechanism
An international team that includes UBC physicists has used ultra-fast laser pulses to identify the microscopic interactions that drive high-temperature superconductivity. In the experiment, to be outlined this Friday in the journal Science, electrons in a prototypical copper-oxide superconductor were excited by extremely short 100-femtosecond (0.0000000000001-second) laser pulses. As the material’s electrons relax back to […]
Laboratory for Atomic Imaging Research (LAIR) opened in June 2012
The construction of this ultra-low-noise facility specifically designed for three UHV low-temperature scanning probe microscopes, each with different capabilities, was completed in June 2012 with the first two instruments moved in through July and September of that year, with the third instrument presently under construction. This facility is unique within Canada, and one of a […]
Doug Bonn receives Canadian Association of Physicists Medal
Professor and Department Head Douglas Bonn will be awarded Canadian Association of Physicists Medal. The 2012 CAP/DCMMP Brockhouse Medal will be awarded to Douglas Bonn for his contributions to the field of high temperature superconductivity. The purpose of this award is to recognize and encourage outstanding experimental or theoretical contributions to condensed matter and materials physics. […]
Max Planck Society and UBC sign an agreement
Prof. Toope met with Prof. Gruss, President of the Max Planck Society to discuss the project and other areas of interests shared by UBC and the Society. Later, an agreement to formalize the relationship between the Society and UBC was signed by Toope and Gruss. The signing was witnessed by German Consul General Mr. Hermann […]
UBC Researchers help define electron behavior in High Temperature Superconductor
UBC researchers have teamed with others at the Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to publish a paper in Nature which helps describe the behaviour of electrons in high temperature superconducting cuprates. The research indicates that high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides is linked to what they term ‘incoherent excitations’–a discovery that sheds light on […]
Andrea Damascelli awarded a 2011 Steacie Fellowship
Andrea Damascelli, an Associate Professor and CRC Tier II in Physics and Astronomy, is a recipient of the 2011 NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship. Damascelli studies quantum materials and is building a spectroscopy centre for the research and development of new electronic materials with never-before-seen properties. Andrea has previously been awarded a Sloan Fellowship. The […]
Ian Affleck is awarded the Lars Onsager Prize
Congratulations to Ian Affleck who has been chosen as the next recipient of the Lars Onsager Prize. This major prize of the American Physical Society is awarded for outstanding research in theoretical statistical physics including quantum fluids. This award recognizes Ian’s pioneering role in developing and applying the ideas and methods of conformal field theory […]
UBC and Max Planck Society commit to a new Centre for Quantum Materials
UBC and the Max Plank Society have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will establish the Max Planck-UBC Centre for Quantum Materials. The agreement also commits both institutions to conducting joint research projects in Canada and Germany, and to increasing scholarly exchanges. The Physics & Astronomy Dept & UBC are renowned for research excellence […]