Successful integration of chemistry and physics techniques is transforming the field of condensed matter physics into new directions. This is particularly evident in the CMP theory community as the chemistry databases are being integrated with physics analytical and machine learning techniques in search of new phases of matter. I will show how such integration of chemistry and physics techniques lead to new breakthroughs in experimental CMP. Specifically, I will showcase three problems that benefited from chemistry insights and novel material synthesis techniques. First, I will explain chemical design principles to control spiral magnetism in Weyl semimetals by tuning the band structure and magneto-crystalline anisotropy. Second, I will show how electron-phonon coupling can be tuned in order to achieve a hydrodynamic el-ph fluid in three dimensions. Third, I will explain the application of intercalation chemistry for the synthesis of a new generation of Kitaev spin liquid candidates.

Bio:

Fazel Tafti completed his PhD at the University of Toronto with Prof. Stephen Julian. His thesis was focused on developing transport experiments under ultrahigh pressures in diamond anvil cells. His first postdoc position at the University of Sherbrook with Prof. Louis Taillefer was focused on the thermal conductivity and thermoelectric measurements in iron-based superconductors under intense magnetic fields. He then changed fields from physics to chemistry and completed a second postdoc at Princeton University working with Prof. Bob Cava on the chemical synthesis of topological and magnetic materials. He started his career at Boston College in 2016 where he is currently a tenured associate professor of physics. Fazel is a member of the user advisory committee at the national high magnetic field laboratory (NHMFL) that severs the high field/low temperature facility. His lab at BC is interdisciplinary between physics, chemistry, and materials science.