MRI: Acquisition of an Ultra-High Vacuum Cryogen-Free Magnet Cryostat to Enhance Multi-Disciplinary Research and STEM Education at San Francisco State University

该奖项由重大研究仪器计划(MRI)资助，将通过收购超高真空无低温磁体低温恒温器，为旧金山州立大学科学与工程学院的三个系和学院以及六个合作的本科生和博士授予机构带来新的研究和教学能力。这种磁体低温恒温器是一种基本的、非侵入性的复杂物理特性测量系统，将使学生研究人员和教职员工能够测量纳米材料和设备的特性，从电传输和导热特性到光学和磁光特性。收购低温恒温器将导致开发一种新的综合纳米级共享研究设施，并广泛传播学术成果。这些措施包括阐明纳米材料和设备的物理性质，开发新的课程模块，以及发表学生撰写/共同撰写的同行评议文章和会议论文。低温恒温器系统将支持研究和教学的一体化，并将促进湾区七个本科生和研究生院之间的合作新时代，从而创造新的研究机会。它将允许教职员工和学生在他们的科学研究中开辟新的天地，并将对研究人员和他们的学生研究人员都有深远的好处。低温恒温器平台上的培训将为研究生课程和职业生涯的挑战准备一个庞大而多样化的学生群体，并将为来自代表性不足群体的大量研究人员提供技能，以成为下一代称职的科学家和工程师。重要的是，它将使学生能够发展核心的实践技能和技术能力，为美国培养保持在STEM领域前沿的人才奠定基础。配备磁铁的低温物理性能测量系统是一种强大的非侵入性工具，可以表征目前处于材料科学和凝聚态物理学前沿的纳米材料和设备。这个无制冷剂系统配备了四个主要部件：(I)一个可变的12T超导磁体；(Ii)一个测量范围从1.65K到300K的可变温度装置；(Iii)一个带有三维样品旋转器的电传输探头；以及(Iv)一个在低温下工作的共焦显微镜。测量能力包括电输运、磁阻、霍尔和安培量子霍尔效应、光学导热系数、光电、磁光和磁光电特性。无低温系统将允许所有用户推进下列材料科学领域的研究前沿：(I)电子和光子材料(2D van der Waals晶体、van der Waals异质结构和忆阻器)；(Ii)金属(等离子体纳米粒子、石墨烯和铁磁性)；(Iii)半导体(金属氧化物、宽禁带材料；(Iv)强相关材料(二氧化钒、Weyl和Dirac半金属)和(V)聚合物，重点是导电聚合物。低温下材料的磁场、电接触和光激发的结合将使测量各种纳米材料的传输特性、光学特性和光电特性成为可能，这对开发未来的纳米电子和光子学设备至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award, funded by the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI), will bring new research and teaching capabilities to three Departments and Schools at the College of Science & Engineering at San Francisco State University and six collaborating undergraduate and Ph.D. granting institutions through the acquisition of an Ultra-High Vacuum Cryogen-Free Magnet Cryostat. This magnet cryostat is a fundamental, non-invasive, complex physical property measurement system and will enable student researchers, and faculty and staff members to measure properties of nanoscale materials and devices ranging from electrical transport and thermal conductivity properties to optical, and magneto-optical properties. The acquisition of the cryostat will lead to the development of a new comprehensive nanoscale shared research facility with broadly disseminated scholarly outcomes. These include elucidating the physical properties of nanoscale materials and devices, developing new course modules, and publishing student authored/co-authored peer-reviewed articles and conference papers. The cryostat system will support the integration of research and teaching and will catalyze a new era of collaborations among seven Bay Area undergraduate and graduate institutions thereby creating new research opportunities. It will allow faculty, staff, and students to break new ground in their scientific inquiries and will have profound benefits for both the investigators and their student researchers. The training on the cryostat platform will prepare a large and diverse student body for the challenges of graduate programs and professional careers and will provide a large number of researchers from underrepresented groups the skills to become the next generation of competent scientists and engineers. Importantly, it will enable students to develop the core practical skills and technical competencies that lay the foundation for the U.S. to build talent to remain at the cutting edge of STEM fields.A low-temperature physical properties measurement system equipped with a magnet is a powerful non-invasive tool to characterize nanoscale materials and devices that are currently at the forefront of interest in materials science and condensed matter physics. This cryogen-free system is equipped with four major components: (i) a variable 12 T superconducting magnet; (ii) a variable temperature unit for measurements ranging from 1.65 K to 300 K; (iii) an electrical transport probe with a three-dimensional sample rotator; and (iv) a confocal microscope operating at cryogen temperature. The measurement capabilities include electrical transport, magnetoresistance, Hall & Quantum Hall Effect, thermal conductivity to optical, optoelectrical, magneto-optical and magneto-optoelectrical properties. The cryo-free system will allow all users to advance the frontiers of research in the following areas of materials science: (i) electronic and photonic materials (2D van der Waals crystals, van der Waals heterostructures, and memristors); (ii) metals (plasmonic nanoparticles, graphene, and ferromagnetics); (iii) semiconductors (metal oxides, wide bandgap materials; (iv) strongly correlated materials (vanadium dioxides, Weyl and Dirac semimetals) and (v) polymers with an emphasis on conductive polymers. The combination of magnetic field, electrical contacts, and optical excitation of materials at low temperatures will enable the measurement of transport properties, optical properties and optoelectrical properties of a wide range of nanoscale materials, which is of key importance for developing future nanoscale electronics and photonics devices.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.