Overview

Please see below for details on our current and future capabilities. In addition to supporting SBQMI research teams, we invite collaboration with industry, government, and academia in research and development of quantum and quantum-inspired materials research.

X-Ray single crystal diffractometer, Bruker D8 DISCOVER

The D8 DISCOVER is an all-purpose X-ray analyzer that can be configured for all diffraction-based material research applications, including qualitative and quantitative phase analysis, structure analysis, high-resolution X-ray diffraction, reflectometry, reciprocal space mapping, grazing incidence diffraction (in-plane GID), and grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). Our system has been optimized for characterizing single crystal materials and is equipped with the EIGER2 R 500K multi-mode (0D/1D/2D) detector.

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh
A technician works on equipment in the lab.

X-Ray powder diffractometer, Bruker D8 ADVANCE

The D8 ADVANCE is an all-purpose X-ray analyzer that can be configured for all powder diffraction applications, including phase identification, quantitative phase analysis, microstructure and crystal structure analysis, residual stress and texture investigations, X-ray reflectometry, and micro-diffraction.

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) with picometer spatial resolution

This is a scanning tunnelling microscope suite coupled to a materials preparation chamber that is able to produce atomically controlled layers of complex materials such as transition metal oxides. We have two functional systems, and a third under construction which will be our ultra-low mK-STM, with high magnetic field capabilities (7 Tesla). These labs are housed in a state-of-the-art vibration isolation facility. View Website

CONTACT

Sarah Burke
A technician works on equipment in the lab.

Resonant Elastic/Inelastic X-ray Spectroscopy (REIXS) Beamline at the Canadian Light Source (CLS)

The REIXS beamline 10ID-2 is a new soft X-ray scattering facility dedicated to the studies of novel and advanced materials, including strongly correlated electron systems, nanoscale biomaterials, and spintronics materials. This beamline is ideally suited for the study of the self-organization of electronic charge in solids and films, as well as the electronic properties of films, surfaces, and buried interfaces with elemental sensitivity. X-ray reflectometry can also be performed to study the quality of interfaces with the chemical and electronic resolution, to study roughness as well as chemical interdiffusion. View Website

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh

Real time X-Ray Laue camera, digital

Based on a position-sensitive x-ray proportional counter connected to a custom computer system, and joystick-controlled motorized orientation stages, this instrument allows us to orient a single crystal extremely rapidly while observing the corresponding Laue pattern evolve truly in real-time. Laue allows for the fast characterization, alignment, and processing of known single crystal types, unlike single-crystal diffractometry which is too time-consuming and thus inefficient. View Website

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh
A technician works on equipment in the lab.

Quantum Materials Spectroscopy Center (QMSC) at Canadian Light Source (CLS)

This is a $16M national effort funded by CFI for the construction of a state-of-the-art beamline 9ID facility dedicated to performing spin and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (S+ARPES) at the CLS. The facility’s components — two elliptically polarizing undulators (15-1000 eV), beamline with two monochromators, two endstations, and integrated “in situ” MBE deposition chambers — are tailored coherently to form a bespoke instrument suite, which aims to be the premier international center for fundamental S+ARPES studies. At QMSC, the close proximity of the spin and angle-resolved endstations, the distribution system that rapidly shuttles samples between the two endstations under vacuum, and the precise replication of the angular and translational position with respect to the photon beam in the two endstations will enable researchers to integrate spin and high-resolution momentum data easily. This combination will provide a complete snapshot of the electronic structure of a sample and improve our control of the properties of quantum materials. The ARPES endstation is currently operational, while the S+ARPES system is currently under construction but expected to come online in late-2021.

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh

Pulsed-laser Deposition System (Neocera) Multiple Target System

We can grow a variety of thin films in ultra-high vacuum conditions – powered by an excimer laser. The system is also equipped with a Wollan ellipsometer to study the optical properties of the grown films in situ (in particular optical conductivity and index of refraction).

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh
A technician works on equipment in the lab.

JEOL JBX-8100FS E-Beam Lithography Tool

Blusson QMI has invested heavily in acquiring a state-of-the-art electron-beam lithography tool that enables device fabrication at the nanoscale, where quantum properties of materials manifest themselves. An intense, well-formed and focused beam of electrons, scanned by precision electronics and driven by computer design data, can directly write features of a few nanometers in size on polymers, across a large wafer area with a diameter up to 8-inches. The best-in-class specifications of the electron-beam writer, combined with its installation within a dedicated, clean lab free of vibrations and electromagnetic noise, afford Blusson QMI the ability to fabricate cutting-edge nanostructures quickly and reproducibly. View Website

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh
A technician works on equipment in the lab.

Density functional theory cluster and computational support

High-Performance Computer cluster (44 cpu’s) and state-of-the-art expertise providing realistic calculations of the full quantum structure of solids, using a variety of open-source as well as in-house developed software (‘all electron codes’: wien2k, lmto, elk, fleur; ‘pseudopotential codes’: vasp, siesta, abinit; ‘Many-body code’). We use ab-initio methods of Density Functional Theory (DFT) supplemented with some aspects of electron correlation. Rapid advances in basic theory and new algorithms have made it possible to study larger systems and obtain unique, non-empirical information about structural, electronic, vibrational and transport properties of solids, surfaces, and interfaces. Also accessible are dynamical processes, such as diffusion on the surface or through an interface, which can be used to study the basic mechanisms in material preparation and growth in both bulk and film form. View Website

CONTACT

Ilya Elfimov

Custom-built broadband microwave surface resistance spectrometer

This device is used to determine the microwave surface resistance of single crystals and films between 1-20GHz. We have a one-of-a-kind broadband microwave surface resistance spectrometer that can continuously scan between 1-20GHz from 1.2K to 20K. As well, we have the ability to measure the change in the London penetration depth extremely precisely (to within a fraction of an Angstrom) from 1.2K-100K at certain microwave frequencies using custom-built experimental probes. We are also experts in measuring the magnetic properties of materials and 4-wire AC/DC resistivity. Our probes can measure between 1.2K and RT and field up to 7 Tesla. View Website

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh
A technician works on equipment in the lab.

Custom Table-top Oxide Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) System

With 3 effusion cells, an oxygen cracker, RHEED gun, and heated manipulator we can grow a variety of oxides in ultra-high vacuum, which can then be transferred, without breaking vacuum, to our XPS-ARPES spectrometer to study stoichiometry and electronic properties. View Website

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh

Combined STM/ARPES System

A new Scanning Probe Microscope (SPM) system that operates in ultrahigh vacuum and down to 1K temperatures was recently commissioned, allowing investigation of the unusual electronic phases that emerge in these materials while ensuring the high energy resolution required to locally probe the electronic structure critically related to underlying interactions.

The SPM will is also located within a magnetic field of up to 3T, allowing tuning of the electronic interactions, creation of vortices in superconductors, and techniques such as spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), magnetic force microscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance-STM that allow investigation of nanoscale magnetism.

To complement the atomic scale picture revealed by SPM methods, a second, attached chamber provides angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) capabilities. In systems where electrons are delocalized, ARPES gives direct access to the band structure that best describes the electronic states and underlies transport and other properties. With both tools applied to the same systems, a clear picture of how atomic-scale structure, electronic states and magnetism connects to the macroscopic band structure, an unprecedented view of quantum materials can be revealed. View Website

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh

Angle Resolved Photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy (XPS)

This state-of-the-art spectrometer allows mapping of the electronic structure of solids from room temperature down to 3K, with unprecedented energy and momentum resolution. At Blusson QMI we are experts in measuring the electronic structure of materials, for example, superconductors, exotic quantum materials, single crystals, and films. We can work on cleaved materials as well as materials regenerated (sputtering/annealing) or modified in situ (by dilute impurity evaporation). View Website

CONTACT

Pinder Dosanjh

Facilities

We conduct world-class research in our world-class facilities. We have 4,400 square metres of lab space, and are currently installing new capabilities to expand our total lab space to over 6,000 square metres. Our research facilities include design and fabrication shops as well as space for large scale experiments including casting of metals and alloys, preparation of ceramics, plasma spray oxide coatings, fluidization, and a steel run out mill. Our facilities support our interdisciplinary research teams and their academic and industry partners. For more information, about technical operations and facilities at Blusson QMI, email Pinder Dosanjh, Operations Manager, at dosanjh@phas.ubc.ca.

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The Quantum Colaboratory (Quantum Colab)

The Quantum Colab network links the University of Waterloo, Université de Sherbrooke, and the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute at The University of British Columbia. Working together, we are enabling academic, non-profit and industry users to access and benefit from our highly specialized capabilities, empowering our partners to engage in world-class research and technology development.

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