Two peer-approved experiments at SPring-8: the Fermi surface of Co-doped BaFe2As2 and the electron spin-density in the NbFe2 system

超导性和磁性是材料中两种引人入胜的现象。我们对相关机制的理解是基于对材料中电子行为的量子力学描述。通过x射线的散射来研究这些电子是可能的，就像斯诺克球相互散射一样。然而，我们需要一个非常强的x射线源，即同步加速器。我们在日本的一个同步加速器上获得了两项实验时间，分别研究两种不同材料的电子特性。在超导体的第一个研究中，我们将研究电子行为的一个特定方面，寻找一个被称为费米表面的特征表面，这可能是解释为什么这些特殊材料以它们所做的方式超导的关键。在第二项研究中，我们建议研究一种行为相当不寻常的化合物的磁性性质。人们希望，通过研究磁场的分布，它可能会告诉我们一些关于我们理解上的差距。

Superconductivity and magnetism are two fascinating phenomena which can occur in materials. Our understanding of the mechanisms responsible is based on a quantum mechanical description of how the electrons in the material are behaving. It is possible to study these electrons by scattering of x-rays off them, much in the same way as snooker balls are scattered by each other. However, we need a very intense source of x-rays, known as a synchrotron.We have been awarded experimental time at a synchrotron in Japan for two separate studies of the electronic properties of two different materials. In the first study on a superconductor, we will investigate a particular aspect of the electronic behaviour, looking for a characteristic surface known as the Fermi surface, which may be crucial to explaining why these particular materials superconduct in the manner in which they do. In the second study, we propose to look at the nature of the magnetism in a compound whose behaviour has been found to be rather unusual. It is hoped that by studying how the magnetism is distributed, it might tell us something about gaps in our understanding.