I am a lecturer at the University of Birmingham, Condensed Matter Physics Group, and an Honorary Research Fellow / Visiting Academic at the University of Warwick. I continue to work closely with the Superconductivity and Magnetism Group, in particular on high pressure measurements and crystal growth.

Research overview

I am an experimental condensed-matter physicist specialising in high pressure techniques. My research programme focuses on 2D magnetic materials, and the effects of pressure in tuning them towards 3D systems by compressing their atomic planes together. I measure the accompanying changes in structural, magnetic and transport properties to search for new exotic phases and behaviour. As well as bulk materials my work also explores few-layer flakes of 2D materials and multi-material nanoscale heterostructures.

Background

I completed my undergraduate degree in physics at the University of Oxford, with my masters thesis on the development of proximity-detector-oscillators for use in pulsed magnetic fields. Following this I moved on to a PhD at the University of Cambridge under Dr Siddharth Saxena, graduating in 2017. My specialisation was in the use of high pressure to tune quantum criticality in ferroelectric systems and Mott transitions in 2D insulating antiferromagnets.

My first postdoctoral position was in the Emergent Phenomena Group of the IBS Centre for Correlated Electron Systems at Seoul National University, under Prof Je-Geun Park. Here I headed the van-der-Waals materials team and continued my investigation into Mott transitions and the tuning of low-dimensional magnetism with pressure, including synchrotron and neutron scattering studies. I then joined the Superconductivity and Magnetism group at Warwick in March 2019. I worked with Dr Paul Goddard from 2019 to 2021 using pressure, magnetic fields and low temperatures to tune and study low-dimensional magnetic materials and superconductors. In 2022 I left Warwick to take up a position as a Senior Research Fellow working with Dr Mark Buitelaar in the Quantum Devices GroupLink opens in a new window at University College London. Here I worked on new underlying technologies for qubits in a distributed quantum computer based on measurement-based entanglement.

I was very grateful to be named as one of the Institute of Physics' Emerging Leaders 2019Link opens in a new window - "the most exciting researchers of their generation, with the potential to revolutionise their fields".

SquidLab - Magnetic Background Subtraction Software  

I am the lead developer on the 'SquidLab' software suite,for subtracting magnetic backgrounds in magnetisation data. SquidLab is written in Matlab, designed to be flexible and customisable, and is free to download with full editable source code under Academic Licence.

SquidLab is described in our recent Review of Scientific Instruments paperLink opens in a new window, and in the accompanying SciLight article for a general audience.

Download linkLink opens in a new window

Publications

• S.P.M. Curley, B.M. Huddart, D. Kamenskyi, M.J. Coak, R.C. Williams, S. Ghannadzadeh, A. Schneider, S. Okubo, T. Sakurai, H. Ohta, J.P. Tidey, D. Graf, S.J. Clark, S. Blundell, F.L. Pratt, M.T.F. Telling, T. Lancaster, J.L. Manson and P.A. Goddard, Anomalous magnetic exchange in a dimerized quantum magnet composed of unlike spin speciesLink opens in a new window Phys. Rev. B 104-214435(2021)

• M.J. Coak, D.M. Jarvis, H. Hamidov, A.R. Wildes, J.A.M. Paddison, C. Liu, C.R.S. Haines, N.T. Dang, S.E. Kichanov, B.N. Savenko, S. Lee, M. Kratochvilova, S. Klotz, T.C. Hansen, D.P. Kozlenko, J.-G. Park and S.S. Saxena, Emergent magnetic phases in pressure tuned van-der-Waals antiferromagnet FePS₃Link opens in a new window Phys. Rev. X 11-011024 (2021)
• K. Zhang, Y. Lee, M.J. Coak, J. Kim, S. Son, I. Hwang, D.-S. Ko, Y. Oh, I. Jeon, D. Kim, C. Zeng, H.-W. Lee and J.-G. Park, Highly Efficient Nonvolatile Magnetization Switching and Multi-Level States by Current in Single Van der Waals Topological Ferromagnet Fe₃GeTe₂ Link opens in a new window Adv. Func. Mat. 2021-2105992 (2021)
• J. Valenta, M. Kratochvílová, M. Míšek, K. Carva, J. Kaštil, P. Doležal, P. Opletal, P. Cermák, P. Proschek, K. Uhlírová, J. Prchal, M.J. Coak, S. Son, J-G. Park and V. Sechovský, Pressure-induced large increase of Curie temperature of the van der Waals ferromagnet VI₃Link opens in a new window Phys. Rev. B 103-054424 (2021)
• M.J. Coak, C.R.S. Haines, C. Liu, S.E. Rowley, G.G. Lonzarich and S.S. Saxena, Quantum critical phenomena in a compressible displacive ferroelectricLink opens in a new window PNAS 117-12707 (2020)

• S. Sim, H. Yang, H. Kim, M.J. Coak, M. Itoh, Y. Noda and J-G Park, Sizable suppression of thermal Hall effect upon isotopic substitution in SrTiO₃Link opens in a new window Phys. Rev. Lett. 126-015901 (2020)

• M.J. Coak, C. Liu, D.M. Jarvis, S. Park, M.J. Cliffe and P.A. Goddard, SquidLab - A user-friendly program for background subtraction and fitting of magnetization dataLink opens in a new window Rev. Sci. Instr. 91-2 (2020)

• J.N. Graham, M.J. Coak, S. Son, E. Suard, J.-G. Park, L. Clark and A.R. Wildes, Local nuclear and magnetic order in the two-dimensional spin glass Mn₀.₅Fe₀.₅PS₃Link opens in a new window Phys. Rev. Mat. 4-084401 (2020)

• K. Zhang, S. Han, Y. Lee, M.J. Coak, J. Kim, I. Hwang, S. Son, J. Shin, M. Lim, D. Jo, K. Kim, D. Kim, H.-W. Lee and J.-G. Park, Gigantic Current Control of Coercive Field and Magnetic Memory Based on Nanometer-Thin Ferromagnetic van der Waals Fe₃GeTe₂Link opens in a new window Adv. Mat. 2004110 (2020)

• S. Son, Y.J. Shin, K. Zhang, J. Shin, S. Lee, H. Idzichi, M.J. Coak, H. Kim, J. Kim, J.H. Kim, M. Kim, D. Kim, P. Kim and J.-G. Park, Strongly adhesive dry transfer technique for van der Waals heterostructureLink opens in a new window 2D Materials 7-4 (2020)

• J. Kim, S. Son, M.J. Coak, I. Hwang, Y. Lee, K. Zhang and J.-G. Park, Observation of plateau-like magnetoresistance in twisted Fe₃GeTe₂ / Fe₃GeTe₂ junctionLink opens in a new window J. Appl. Phys. 128-09390 (2020)

• S. Park, S. Kang, H. Kim, K.H. Lee, P. Kim, S. Sim, N. Lee, B. Karuppannan, J. Kim, J. Kim, K.I. Sim, M.J. Coak, Y. Noda, C.-H. Park, J.H. Kim and J.-G. Park, Kagome van-der-Waals Pd₃P₂S₈ with flat bandLink opens in a new window Sci. Rep. 10-20998 (2020)

• M.J. Coak, D.M. Jarvis, H. Hamidov, C.R.S. Haines, P.L. Alireza, C. Liu, S. Son, I. Hwang, G.I. Lampronti, D. Daisenberger, P. Nahai-Williamson, A.R. Wildes, S.S. Saxena and J-G Park, Tuning dimensionality in van-der-Waals antiferromagnetic Mott insulators TMPS3Link opens in a new window J.Phys.: Cond. Mat. (Emerging Leaders Special Issue) 32-12 (2019)
• H. Kim, M.J. Coak, J.C. Baglo, K. Murphy, R.W. Hill, M. Sutherland, M. Ciomaga Hatnean, G.
  Balakrishnan and J-G. Park, Modular thermal Hall effect measurement setup for fast-turnaround screening of materials over wide temperature range using capacitive thermometryLink opens in a new window Rev. Sci. Instr. 90-10 (2019)
• M.J. Coak, C.R.S. Haines, C.Liu, G.G. Guzman-Verri and S.S. Saxena, Pressure dependence of ferroelectric quantum critical fluctuationsLink opens in a new window Phys.Rev. B 100 (2019)
• M.J. Coak, Y.-H. Kim, Y.S. Yi, S. Son, S. K. Lee and J.-G. Park, Electronic and vibrational properties of the two-dimensional Mott insulator V0:9PS3 under pressureLink opens in a new window Phys. Rev B 100-3 (2019)
• M.J. Coak, S. Son, D. Daisenberger, H. Hamidov, C.R.S. Haines, P.L. Alireza, A.R. Wildes, C. Liu, S.S. Saxena and J-G. Park, Isostructural Mott transition in 2D honeycomb antiferromagnet V0.9PS3Link opens in a new window npj Quant. Mat. 4-1 (2019)
• I. Hwang, M.J. Coak, N. Lee, D.-S. Ko, Y. Oh, I. Jeon, S. Son, K. Zhang, J. Kim and J-G Park, Hard ferromagnetic van-der-Waals metal (Fe,Co)3GeTe2: a new platform for the study of low-dimensional magnetic quantum criticalityLink opens in a new window J.Phys.: Cond. Mat. 31-50 (2019)
• S. Son, M.J. Coak, N. Lee, J. Kim, T.Y. Kim, H. Hamidov, H. Cho, C. Liu, D.M. Jarvis, P.A.C.
  Brown, J.H. Kim, C.-H. Park, D.I. Khomskii, S.S. Saxena and J.-G. Park, Bulk properties of the van-der-Waals hard ferromagnet VI3Link opens in a new window Phys. Rev. B (R) 99-4 (2019)
• M.J. Coak, C.R.S. Haines, C.Liu, D.M. Jarvis, P.B. Littlewood and S.S. Saxena, Dielectric response of quantum critical ferroelectric as a function of pressureLink opens in a new window Scientific Reports 8-1 (2018)
• C.R.S. Haines, M.J. Coak, G.I. Lampronti, C.Liu, H. Hamidov, A.R. Wildes, D. Daisenberger, P. Nahai-Williamson and S.S. Saxena, Pressure-induced electronic and structural phase evolution in the van-der-Waals compound FePS₃ Link opens in a new window Phys. Rev. Lett. 121-26 (2018)
• A. Yogi, C.I. Satish, H. Sim, M.J. Coak, Y. Noda and J.-G. Park, Symmetry breaking and unconventional charge ordering in single crystal Na_2.7Ru₄O₉Link opens in a new window Phys.Rev. B 98-8 (2018)
• J.B. Kargin, C.R.S. Haines, M.J. Coak, C.Liu, A.V. Matovnikov, V.V. Novikov, A.N. Vasiliev and S.S. Saxena, Low temperature resistivity of the rare earth diborides (Er, Ho, Tm)B₂Link opens in a new window Springer Proceedings in Physics 164 (2015)
• S. Ghannadzadeh, M.J. Coak, I. Franke, P.A. Goddard, J.Singleton and J.L. Manson, Measurement of magnetic susceptibility in pulsed magnetic fields using a proximity detector oscillatorLink opens in a new window Rev. Sci. Instr 82-11 (2011)

Email (including for Squidlab queries)

Dr Matthew Coak

m dot j dot coak at bham dot ac dot uk

For questions about Matt's work at Warwick please write to

Paul Goddard

Department of Physics
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom