MRI: Acquisition of a Top-Loading Refrigerator and Magnet System for Studies of Quantum Systems and Undergraduate Research

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A top-loading dilution refrigerator and magnet system will be acquired to serve as a shared facility between four research groups. This system will provide a combined environment of extremely low temperatures (15 mK or less) and high magnetic fields (up to 10 T). It will permit relatively rapid and uncomplicated sample changes, which will facilitate sharing the facility between the research groups and will make it possible to engage undergraduates in research projects using this system. The refrigerator/magnet system will be used to study a variety of quantum phenomena at low temperature: nanoscale devices (crossed Andreev reflection devices and nanowire arrays), entangled states of molecular magnets, macroscopic quantum phenomena in SQUIDS, exotic states in quantum-fluid films, spin dynamics of quantum fluids, and cryogenic production of hyperpolarized contrast agents for MRI. Broader impacts will include opening new areas of low-temperature research to participation by undergraduates, and laying the scientific groundwork for future nanoscale, quantum-information, and hyperpolarized MRI technologies.A specialized refrigerator and magnet system will be acquired, which will make it possible to cool samples to within fifteen thousandths of a degree from absolute zero temperature while subjecting them to extremely large magnetic fields (up to ten tesla, or about 200,000 times larger than the Earth's field). Four research groups will share this system and use it to study quantum phenomena at low temperature. The areas to be studied will include nano devices, phenomena of potential use for quantum computing, and other exotic quantum systems. A special feature of this refrigerator/magnet system is the ability to quickly and easily change samples without disassembling the entire system. This will make it possible to engage undergraduate students in research using the refrigerator, opening up new areas of physics to undergraduate physics instruction and research.