Control of magnetic frustration for energy efficient technologies

磁性材料支撑着大量的现代技术，如计算机硬件、运输系统和制冷设备等等。直到最近，这些技术几乎完全依赖于铁磁体，因为它们的磁化强度大，易于感知和操作。另一方面，反铁磁体的磁化强度为零，导致它们的发现者路易斯·纳萨姆埃尔将其描述为“有趣但无用”。然而，过去十年的进步导致了反铁磁性的复兴。最近人们发现，新型反铁磁技术的应用在超快计算、能量转换、能量收集和固态制冷等方面的性能大大优于铁磁体。除此之外，对反铁磁性的重新理解具有根本性的意义，因为支撑其功能的内在性质类似于基本粒子的性质。在这些发现的基础上，该项目旨在开发和理解具有增强功能特性的新型反铁磁材料，特别强调脱碳技术，如热量制冷和自旋电子学。(i)该项目将合成新的反铁磁材料，这些材料在磁上“受挫”——它们的磁相互作用不能得到满足，这反过来又可以增强它们的功能特性。（ii）该项目将使用国家同步加速器和中子设施的先进技术以及格拉斯哥大学开尔文纳米表征中心的电子显微镜来表征这些材料。这种分析将指导这些材料的合成，以优化它们的“挫败感”和功能。（iii）将选择优化的材料来生长薄膜，以确定其在热加热和冷却或反铁磁自旋电子学等应用中的潜在用途。该项目将发现用于自旋电子学和发热材料领域的低碳技术的新型反铁磁材料。到目前为止，自旋电子学一直由铁磁性材料主导；反铁磁材料具有许多优点，有望提高现有器件的效率、密度和速度。该项目将开发新材料来实现这一潜力。反铁磁体最近也显示出作为发热材料的巨大前景，但只有少数材料是已知的，并且有很大的空间来改善它们的功能特性。该项目旨在开发具有挑战传统碳氢制冷剂性能的新材料。对齐和战略为实现我们的净零目标，对技术脱碳的需求是明确的。该项目通过开发利用新颖物理原理的先进功能材料来实现这一目标。因此，该项目符合与脱碳相关的国家战略，以及EPSRC在工程零净和物理科学方面的优先领域。该项目由材料和凝聚态物理组讲师David Boldrin博士监督。该项目将利用格拉斯哥大学的开尔文纳米表征中心以及欧洲的一些国家设施；钻石光源，ISIS中子和介子设施和法国格勒诺布尔的劳厄朗格万研究所。

Magnetic materials underpin a huge number of modern technologies, such as computer hardware, transport systems and refrigeration devices to name a few. Until recently these technologies have almost exclusively relied on ferromagnets owing to their large magnetisation which is easy to sense and manipulate. Antiferromagnets on the other hand have zero magnetisation, resulting in their discoverer (Louis Néel) describing them as "Interesting but useless". However, advances in the last decade have led to a renaissance of antiferromagnetism. Applications of novel antiferromagnetic technologies have recently been discovered that vastly outperform ferromagnets, for example in ultrafast computing, energy conversion, energy harvesting and solid-state refrigeration. Beyond this, the renewed understanding of antiferromagnetism is of fundamental interest as the intrinsic properties that underpin their functionality are analogous to those of elementary particles. Building on these discoveries, this project aims to develop and understand new antiferromagnetic materials with enhanced functional properties, with particular emphasis on decarbonising technologies such as caloric refrigeration and spintronics.Objectives(i) The project will synthesise novel antiferromagnetic materials that are magnetically 'frustrated' - their magnetic interactions cannot be satisfied, which in turn can enhance their functional properties. (ii) The project will characterise these materials using advanced techniques at national synchrotron and neutron facilities and using the electron microscopes in the Kelvin Nano-Characterisation Centre at the University of Glasgow. This analysis will guide the synthesis of these materials in order to optimise their 'frustration' and functionality. (iii) Optimised materials will be selected to grow thin films in order to determine their potential use in applications such as caloric heating and cooling or antiferromagnetic spintronics.NoveltyThe project will discover novel antiferromagnetic materials for use in low carbon technologies in the areas of spintronics and caloric materials. Up to now, spintronics has been dominated by ferromagnetic materials; antiferromagnetic materials offer a number of advantages and are predicted to improve the efficiency, density and speed of current devices. This project will develop new materials to realise this potential. Antiferromagnets have very recently also shown great promise as caloric materials, yet only a handful of materials are known and there is significant scope to improve their functional properties. This project will aim to develop new materials with properties that will challenge conventional hydrocarbon refrigerants.Alignment and StrategyThe need for decarbonisation of technologies in order to meet our net-zero goals is clear. This project works towards this goal through the development of advanced functional materials that takes advantage of novel physics. As such, the project is aligned to national strategies associated with decarbonisation as well as EPSRC priority areas in engineering net zero and the physical sciences.CollaborationsThe project is supervised by Dr David Boldrin, Lecturer in the Materials and Condensed Matter Physics group. The project will utilise the University of Glasgow's Kelvin Nanocharacterisation Centre as well as a number of national facilities within Europe; Diamond Light Source, ISIS Neutron and Muon Facility and the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France.