Electron spectrscopy on novel quantum materials

What is the most central topic of condensed mateter physics? The answer is not unique, since the condensed matter physics is such a huge diverse field.

However, one surely exciting thing is that certain well-established textbook ideas, such as the Landau Fermi liquid or the clear-cut distinction between metal and insultor, are severely challenged—so, many condensed matter researcher are very excited about establishing the “physics of tomorrow's textbook.”

Here, in the Gweon group, we study to clarify such physics. One is the so-called non-Fermi liquid physics of high temperature supercondutors and quasi-one dimensional cuprates. Generally, these exotic non-Fermi liquid states can be viewed as one consequence of the interactions of many particles. The other is the so-called topological insulator phase, which is a newly discovered quantum phase.

Materials studied in the Gweon group include high temperature superconductors, two leg ladder compounds, topological insulators, graphene, and cobalt oxides. All of these can be referred to as “novel quantum materials” in the sense that they harbor the physics of tomorrow. They are also expected to be useful for novel quantum devices for tomorrow.