MRI: Acquisition of an Automated, Variable Temperature and Magnetic Field Multi-property Measurement System

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The response of materials to changes in temperature and exposure to magnetic fields can provide insight into the origins of interesting properties and access conditions under which materials become technologically useful. For example, superconductors conduct electricity very efficiently, but only when cooled to very low temperatures. Additionally, some devices only operate effectively at low temperatures: examples include next-generation computing components and detectors for national security applications. Furthermore, materials designed for motors, power generators, and certain types of computer memory inherently operate in magnetic fields, and improving their performance requires a better understanding of how magnetic fields affect their properties. To study the effects of temperature and magnetic fields on properties of newly developed materials, the Colorado School of Mines (Mines) is acquiring a variable temperature and magnetic field multi-property measurement system. This uniquely versatile, turnkey system supports research and education in multiple departments and institutions in the Front Range. Experience with this instrument and the research it enables provide students with training, experience, and skills that are highly desirable for the current and emerging job markets, including in sensing, energy, semiconductor, and computing technologies.This instrument consists of a cryostat (1.65-300 K) containing a 12 T magnet, a probe for electrical transport measurements in controllable applied magnetic field orientations, a cutting-edge quantum transport measurement suite for signal control and readout, and a magnetic force microscope to measure nanoscale magnetic domains. It enables research spanning a range of systems, including superconductors, magnetic materials, nanostructures, semiconductors, and ceramics. For example, it is used to reveal fascinating regions of the phase diagram in which quasiparticles emerge that can be leveraged in device applications (such as skyrmions for next-generation spintronic devices). Additionally, it supports research on vortex dynamics in superconductors, development of cryogenic solid-state coolers and devices for neuromorphic computing, the impact of nanostructure on the magnetic response of ceramic materials, and exotic quantum states such as the spin liquid and spin ice.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.