Where Light Meets Quantum Matter

Quantum materials host some of the most remarkable phenomena in condensed matter physics, from unconventional superconductivity and charge order to Mott insulating states, spin-orbit entanglement, and topological phases. Our group studies how these collective states emerge from the interactions between electrons and how they can be manipulated, with particular emphasis on cuprates, nickelates, ruthenates, and other strongly correlated and topological materials. By connecting electronic structure to the underlying charge, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom, we seek to uncover the microscopic principles that govern quantum matter and enable new ways of controlling it.

To address these questions, we develop and apply advanced angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), including time- and spin-resolved variants as well as emerging two-electron coincidence photoemission (2e-ARPES), together with resonant x-ray scattering. Using facilities established at UBC, such as the UBC-Moore Centre for Ultrafast Quantum Matter and our 2e-ARPES platform, and at the Quantum Materials Spectroscopy Centre (QMSC) at the Canadian Light Source, we push spectroscopy into new regimes of momentum, spin, time, and pair dynamics, while controlling electronic structure through in situ surface engineering, strain, and ultrafast light excitation.