Research Initiatives
MATERIALS
Scientists use our magnets to explore semiconductors, superconductors, newly-grown crystals, buckyballs and materials from the natural world — research that reveals the secret workings of materials and empowers us to develop new technologies.
ENERGY
Scientists here are working to optimize petroleum refining, advance potential bio-fuels such as pine needles and algae, and fundamentally change the way we store and deliver energy by developing better batteries.
LIFE
With the world’s strongest MRI magnet, scientists here study everything from living animals to individual cells, from proteins to disease-fighting molecules found in plants and animals — work that could improve treatment of AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
Latest Science Highlights
-
Strong Magnetic Coupling in Molecular Magnets through Direct Metal-Metal Bonds
11 February 2021
An exciting advance of interest to future molecular-scale information storage. By using the uniquely high frequency Electron Magnetic Resonance techniques available at the MagLab, researchers have found single molecule magnets that feature direct metal orbital overlap (instead of weak superexchange interactions), resulting in behavior similar to metallic feromagnets that is far more suitable to future technologies than previous molecular magnets.
-
Ninety Teslas Peek Under the Superconducting Dome of a High-Temperature Superconductor
11 February 2021
Physics does not yet know why copper-based superconductors (cuprates) conduct electrical current without dissipation at unprecedentedly high temperatures. Ultra high magnetic fields are used here to suppress superconductivity in a cuprate near absolute zero temperature, revealing an underlying transition to an electronic phase that might be the cause of the superconductivity.
-
Special High-Strength Conductor Testing Improves Future Pulsed Magnet Lifespan
11 February 2021
Three non-destructive testing methods are developed for inspection of high strength, high conductivity wires which are used to wind ultra-high field pulsed magnets at the National MagLab. We expect the lifetime of future magnets to exceed those of past magnets due to these improvements in quality control.
Featured Publications
Using Magnetic Resonance to Probe Lipid Synthesis in Response to Ketogenic Diet , M.S. Muyyarikkandy, et al., The FASEB Journal, 2020;00:1–18 See Science Highlight or Read online
Spontaneous "Valley Magnetization" in an Atomically-thin Semiconductor, J. Li, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 125, 147602 (2020) See Science Highlight or Read online
Spin-Charge Interconversion at Near-Terahertz Frequencies, P. Vaidya, Science, 368, 160-165 (2020) See Science Highlight or Read online
Tunable Weyl Fermions in Chiral Tellurene in High Magnetic Fields, G. Qiu, Nature Nanotechnology, 15, 585–591 (2020) See Science Highlight or Read online
Deuterium Magnetic Resonance Can Detect Cancer Metabolism by Measuring the Formation of Deuterated Water, R. Mahar, Nature Scientific Reports, 10 (1), 8885 (2020) See Science Highlight or Read online
High magnetic fields reveal hidden magnetism in a cuprate superconductor, M. Frachet, Nature Physics, 16, 1745-2481 (2020) See Science Highlight or Read online
Smart Non-Linear Transport Technique Expands the Frontier of Superconductor Research, M. Leroux., Physical Review Applied, 11, 054005 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
Inducing Magnetic Ring Currents in Non-Magnetic Aromatic Molecules: A Finding From the 25 T Split-Florida Helix , B. Kudisch, et al., Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, 117 (21), 11289-11298 (2020) See Science Highlight or Read online
Molecular magnetic building blocks , J.-L. Liu, et al., Angew. Chem., February (2020) See Science Highlight or Read online
Exploring Topological Semimetals in High Magnetic Fields , J. Liu, et al., Phys. Rev. B, 100, 195123 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
MRI detects brain responses to Alzheimer’s disease plaque deposits and inflammation, L.M. Colon-Perez, et al., NeuroImage, 202, 116138 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
Analytical tool for in vivo triple quantum MR signals, V.D. Schepkin Zeitschrift fur Medizinische Physik, 29 (4), 326-336 (2019) See Science Highlight or Read online
-
Safety at the Lab
-
What Scientists Do at the MagLab
