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

材料对温度变化和暴露在磁场中的反应可以提供对有趣特性的起源和材料变得在技术上有用的获取条件的洞察。例如，超导体的导电效率很高，但只有在冷却到很低的温度时才能传导。此外，一些设备只能在低温下有效运行：例如，用于国家安全应用的下一代计算组件和探测器。此外，为电机、发电机和某些类型的计算机存储器设计的材料本质上是在磁场中运行的，要提高它们的性能，需要更好地了解磁场如何影响它们的性能。为了研究温度和磁场对新开发材料性能的影响，科罗拉多矿业学院(Mines)正在获得一套变温变磁场多性能测量系统。这一独一无二的多功能交钥匙系统支持前端范围内多个部门和机构的研究和教育。该仪器的经验和研究为学生提供了当前和新兴就业市场非常需要的培训、经验和技能，包括传感、能源、半导体和计算机技术。该仪器包括一个包含12 T磁体的低温恒温器(1.65-300K)，用于在可控应用磁场方向上进行电传输测量的探测器，用于信号控制和读出的尖端量子传输测量套件，以及用于测量纳米级磁域的磁力显微镜。它使研究能够跨越一系列系统，包括超导体、磁性材料、纳米结构、半导体和陶瓷。例如，它被用来揭示相图中令人着迷的区域，在这些区域中出现了可用于设备应用的准粒子(例如用于下一代自旋电子器件的Skyrmions)。此外，它还支持超导体中涡旋动力学的研究，开发用于神经形态计算的低温固态冷却器和设备，纳米结构对陶瓷材料磁响应的影响，以及自旋液体和自旋冰等奇异量子态。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。

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.