Yes. I plan to accept one or more new M. Sc. or Ph. D. students for Fall 2025 admission cycle. Regarding the research opportunities for undergraduate students, please email me about the possibilities. In general, there will be research opportunities during the summer.

We are currently working on the following topics:

• Honeycomb lattice Kitaev quantum spin liquids (E. Horsley, J. Wang)
• Lattice dynamics and thermoelectric properties of BiCuSeO (S. Jain)
• RIXS investigation of materials with strong spin-orbit coupling (F. Frontini)
• Quantum magnetism of insulating copper oxides (E. Horsley)
• Effect of uniaxial strain on superconductivity (B. Gao)
• Machine Learning and RIXS (C. Heath)
• Magnetism in 2D materials (G. Johnstone, P. Harford)

New students tend to start working on the existing research topics with senior students. Our research program is highly collaborative, and students travel together to the X-ray and neutron beamlines to obtain data. Once new students have enough experience, they take on their own research projects. For more detailed updates and information, please contact Prof. Kim directly.

We are interested in many physical properties of condensed matter systems. Therefore, the students will learn many different aspects of materials research, including materials synthesis, characterization of magnetic and thermodynamic properties (MPMS/PPMS), and X-ray diffraction. However, our main experimental tool is neutron and x-ray scattering. These scattering techniques are well suited to studying microscopic properties, such as electron charge and spin correlations in complex quantum materials. For more detailed description of scattering techniques, please see the research tools page.

Since modern scattering experiments require very bright photon/neutron beams, most of our experimental activities happen at large national and international facilities. For x-ray scattering, we mainly use the Advanced Photon Source near Chicago, the National Synchrotron Light Source near New York, and the Canadian Light Source in Saskatoon. For neutron scattering, we mainly use the new Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge and NIST Center for Neuton Research. Recently, we have been doing more experiments in UK and Europe, such as Diamond Light Source and ISIS Neutron facility at Oxford and DESY in Hamburg. Some projects are now carried out using in-house equipment.

Scattering is an extremely powerful probe for microscopic understanding of condensed matter systems, and indispensable tool for any materials research. As a result, scatterer (physicist who do scattering experiments) are highly sought after by many academic and nonacademic employers. In addition, a PhD in scattering is a stepping stone towards enormously diverse science being done at synchrotron and neutron facilities, ranging from atomic physics, materials science, biophysics, protein crystallography, environmental science, and so on. You will also meet many scientists working on different topics at these facilities. Most of all, this (early part of 21st century) is shaping up to be a great time for x-ray and neutron researchers. As more countries are realizing the value of synchrotrons for scientific research, many medium sized synchrotrons have popped up all over the world in the last decade, including Canadian Light Source. There are now 15-20 such medium to large synchrotrons around the world (i.e., many jobs…).

Although we carry out many experiments at these synchrotron and neutron facilities, actual time we spend at these places are rather short. Usually, you can expect to make about 1-week long trips every 3-6 months. In between these experimental trips, we are quite busy in our UofT lab (McLennan building basement) preparing the sample, analyzing data, and taking some more data using our in-house equipment.

We have well-equipped crystal growth facilities, which include many electrical furnaces as well as an optical image furnace. Using various furnaces, we usually grow single crystal samples of interest, and then optimize them through cutting, polishing, and annealing. These samples have to be characterized using various methods. SQUID magnetometer is used to study magnetic properties; In-house x-ray diffractometer is used to study structural properties. We recently purchased a cryogen-free PPMS, which is an extremely valuable instrument for studying physical properties.

There is no set time frame, since it depends a great deal on individual abilities. However, normally it will take 5-6 years including the time spent during the MSc program.

Many PhD graduates and PDF trainees from our group end up in academia or national labs. The list can be found here. However, many do go into the private sector. I usually encourage internships at partnering companies and I would arrange them sometimes.