A SQUID Magnetometer for Quantum Materials, superconductors, molecular magnets and excited states

所有的固体和分子都在一定程度上与磁场相互作用。在许多简单的固体中，如氯化钠，没有未配对或离域的电子，相互作用非常弱，但在化合物中，如磁铁矿，Fe3O4，最早的“功能材料”之一，原子和电子的排列使得相互作用非常强，所以它被古人用作指南针。新物质成分的发展，最终可能被用作技术设备中的功能材料，需要测量它们的磁性，以及，例如，它们的电子导电性和晶体结构，以便理解它们为什么会有这样的行为。这些测量有助于开发具有增强物理性能的新组合物。将使用最先进的仪器测量的化合物类型将包括新型复杂氧化物和硫化物的粉末和单晶，它们表现出不同的磁性现象，如铁磁性、反铁磁性、自旋玻璃行为和超导性，以及可能在量子计算和解开磁场对鸟类导航的影响等领域应用的复杂分子。该仪器将是利用超导体的独特特性的关键，超导体的独特特性使使用核磁共振扫描仪进行医学成像的革命成为可能。为此，使用新的超导体和改进的超导关节的进一步发展，以实现更高质量的成像，将成为该大学未来几年世界领先的研究工作的关键部分。新的最先进的仪器比现在过时的模型更高效，功能更强大，将确保大学在广泛主题上的突破性研究取得成功，并将为ISIS和钻石光源的主要设施的研究提供支持，并将吸引更广泛的用户。

All solids and molecules interact to some extent with magnetic fields. In many simple solids such as sodium chloride where there are no unpaired or delocalised electrons the interaction is very weak, but in compounds such as magnetite, Fe3O4, one of the earliest "functional materials" the arrangement of atoms and electrons makes the interaction very strong, so it was used by the ancients as a compass. The development of new compositions of matter that might eventually be used as functional materials in technological devices requires measurement of their magnetic properties, along with, for example, their electronic conductivity and their crystal structures, in order to understand why they behave as they do. These measurements enable the development of new compositions with enhanced physical properties. The types of compound that will be measured using the proposed state-of-the-art instrument will range from powders and single crystals of new complex oxides and sulfides exhibiting diverse magnetic phenomena such as ferromagnetism, antiferromagnetism, spin-glass behaviour and superconductivity, to complex molecules which might have applications in areas ranging from as quantum computing to unravelling the effects of magnetic fields on avian navigation. The instrument will be key to capitalising on the unique properties of superconductors which have enabled a revolution in medical imaging using MRI scanners, and for which further developments using new superconductors and improved superconducting joints to achieve higher quality imaging will form a key part of the University's world-leading research effort in the coming years.The new state-of-the-art instrument is more efficient than the now-obsolete models and has much-enhanced functionality and will ensure the success of the University's ground-breaking research across a wide range of themes and will feed into the research of the major facilities at ISIS and the Diamond Light Source, and will attract a wider range of users.