Welcome to the new quantum materials synthesis and characterization lab at the condensed matter physics department. We apply a wide range of standard and specialized crystal growth methods, including a laser based traveling-solvent floating-zone technique, to synthesize high quality single crystals of topological quantum materials and strongly correlated electron systems. Synthesis is just the first step of our physics driven effort. Bulk crystals are characterized with a combination of lab based techniques as well as facility based methods such as synchrotron x-ray and neutron scattering. Crystal sheets exfoliated from these bulk materials are turned into mesoscopic devices and studied in collaboration with our department's highly specialized scanning probe microscopy groups.
