Experimental Studies of Geometrically Frustrated Magnets

技术：该项目将通过实验研究几何受挫磁铁的不寻常特性，这种材料中原子自旋之间的相互作用由于磁性亚晶格的特殊几何形状而相互竞争。这些材料中的挫折导致了高度简并的低温状态，在这种状态下，相互作用能不能同时最小化。该项目的具体研究目标是探索新的几何挫折磁性材料，特别是通过引入磁性无序；为了研究这些材料系统中不寻常的玻璃状基态的性质；并探索这些系统和其他系统中剩余“基态”熵的本质。这些实验将涉及一系列热力学实验技术，并将与能够提供独特和重要新材料样品的样品种植者密切合作进行。参与研究的学生将参加传统和尖端的培训，包括广泛的实验技术，为他们在学术界、工业界或政府的职业生涯做好准备。非技术：这是一个研究项目，研究一组被称为稀土几何挫折磁铁的材料的物理学。这些材料中的磁性原子无法以一种独特的方式指向它们的磁轴（称为磁矩）以最小化它们的能量。这种无法将能量最小化的根本原因是材料中磁性原子的几何排列，这种几何排列使这些材料成为广泛的其他复杂系统的优秀模型，这些系统同样“受挫”。特别地，这个研究项目将探索这种系统中无序的影响，以及这种受挫系统所固有的物质的不寻常状态的本质。了解这些磁性材料对其他系统如超导结阵列和玻璃都有意义，也可能为计算算法提供见解。首席研究员与不同的学生群体合作，并在研究过程的每个阶段参与研究生和本科生的工作。参与研究的学生将参加传统和尖端的培训，包括广泛的实验技术，为他们在学术界、工业界或政府的职业生涯做好准备。

Technical: The project will experimentally investigate the unusual properties of geometrically frustrated magnets, materials in which the interactions between atomic spins compete with each other due to the particular geometry of the magnetic sublattice. The frustration in these materials leads to highly degenerate low temperature states in which the interaction energies cannot all be simultaneously minimized. The specific research goals of the project are to explore new geometrically frustrated magnetic materials, especially through the introduction of magnetic disorder; to examine the nature of unusual glass-like ground states in these material systems; and to explore the nature of residual 'ground state' entropy in these systems and others. The experiments will involve a range of thermodynamic experimental techniques and will be conducted in close collaboration with sample growers who can provide unique and important samples of new materials. Students involved in the research will participate in traditional and cutting edge training in a wide range of experimental techniques that will prepare them for careers in academe, industry or government.Non-technical: This is a research program into the physics of a group of materials known as rare earth geometrically frustrated magnets. The magnetic atoms in these materials are unable to point their magnetic axes (known as the magnetic moments) in a unique way to minimize their energy. The root cause of this inability to minimize the energy is the geometrical arrangement of the magnetic atoms within the materials, and this geometrical arrangement makes these materials excellent models for a wide range of other complex systems which are similarly 'frustrated'. In particular, this research program will probe the effects of disorder in such systems and the nature of the unusual states of matter which are intrinsic to such frustrated systems. Understanding these magnetic materials has implications for other systems as diverse as superconducting junction arrays and glasses, and may also provide insight into computational algorithms. The principal investigator has an extensive record of working with a diverse group of students and involving graduate students and undergraduates in every stage of the research process. Students involved in the research will participate in traditional and cutting edge training in a wide range of experimental techniques that will prepare them for careers in academe, industry or government.