The goal of the PQM department is to perform multi-faceted research into the collective states formed by strongly interacting electron fluids.  Our interests include not just low temperature ordered states but the ‘breeding grounds’ of such states, notably the strongly fluctuating environment close to quantum critical points.  Since material design and control of disorder are vital to progress in the field, we place strong emphasis on the in-house preparation of poly- and single-crystalline samples of a number of different kinds of materials, notably intermetallic compounds and selected oxides.  Through collaboration with our chemistry colleagues, we have access to special facilities that allow us to work with highly toxic elements from beryllium to uranium, and hence access a broad range of physics.

We complement our material growth effort with one of the world’s most modern and extensive suites of measurement apparatus.  We have specialized low temperature cryostats giving us the capability of studying a wide range of electrical transport and thermodynamic properties.  This expertise is complemented by research groups specializing in a number of modern spectroscopic techniques, and we are in the process of establishing a major new effort in bringing strongly correlated electron systems into the mesoscopic regime.