Colorado State University

Materials that host strongly interacting electrons can lead to new emergent phenomena, such as unusual particles with exotic properties that can only exist within these materials. Our work focuses on synthesizing and characterizing materials in which the spin degrees of freedom of the electrons lead to this kind of emergence. We use the concept of frustration (competition between different interactions) to design materials that host new quantum phases of matter, such as Quantum Spin Liquid states, which ideally will also host new emergent particles. We use inelastic neutron scattering, specific heat, magnetization, and ultrasound spectroscopy to characterize these materials.