Researchers at the MagLab are making discoveries today that will lead to the technologies of tomorrow. Whether a member of one of our robust in-house research groups or one of the nearly 1,400 outside scientists who do experiments here annually, MagLab researchers understand how high magnetic fields lead to making big discoveries.
Seeking the most powerful magnetic fields on Earth, scientists and engineers from across the world come to the MagLab to explore promising new materials, solve energy challenges and grow our understanding of living things. This kind of research has played a critical role in developing new technologies used every day – from electric lights and computers to motors, plastics, high-speed trains and MRI. Find out more by exploring our research initiatives, learning about our interdisciplinary research, or digging deeper into the hundreds of publications generated annually by MagLab researchers.
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 Highlight
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New High-Magnetic-Field Thermometers for Sub-Millikelvin Temperatures
22 July 2021
This highlight focuses on the development of new thermometry required to study quantum materials and phenomena in high magnetic fields and at ultralow temperatures. The team has demonstrated that exceedingly small quartz tuning forks bathed in liquid 3He maintain a constant calibration that is magnetic field independent, thereby opening the use of these devices as new sensors of the response of quantum systems.
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A New Method for Understanding Dynamic Nuclear Polarization
22 July 2021
A new method to study how the nuclei of atoms “communicate” with one another in the presence of unpaired electron spins has been developed at the MagLab. Known as hyperpolarization resurgence (HypRes), this method benefits and expands the application of a revolutionary technique known as dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), which provides enormous signal enhancements in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments.
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Magnetoelastic Coupling in the Multiferroic BiFeO3
23 June 2021
High-resolution electron magnetic resonance studies of the spin-wave spectrum in the high-field phase of the multiferroic Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) reveal direct evidence for the magnetoelastic coupling through a change in lattice symmetry from rhombohedral to monoclinic. This study provides important information for designing future spintronics devices based on BiFeO3.
Featured Publications
New High-Magnetic-Field Thermometers for Sub-Millikelvin Temperatures, A. Woods, et al., arxiv, 2107.02387 (2020), See Science Highlight or Read online
A New Method for Understanding Dynamic Nuclear Polarization, Q. Stern, et al., Science Advances, 7 (18), eabf5735 (2021), See Science Highlight or Read online
Magnetoelastic Coupling in the Multiferroic BiFeO3, T. Rõõm, et al., Phys. Rev. B, 102, 21440 (2020), See Science Highlight or Read online
Dissolved Organic Matter in Arctic Rivers: Synchronous Molecular Stability, Shifting Sources and Subsidies, M.I. Behnke, et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 35, e2020GB006871 (2021), See Science Highlight or Read online
HTS NMR Probe Tracks Metabolism Cycles During Insect Dormancy, C. Chen, et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS), 118 (1), 603118 (2021), See Science Highlight or Read online
Exchange bias due to coupling between coexisting antiferromagnetic and spin-glass orders, E. Maniv, et al., Nature Physics, 17, 1-7 (2021), See Science Highlight or Read online
First Science from the 75T Duplex Magnet, D. N. Nguyen, et al., IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, 30 (4), 0500105 (2020), See Science Highlight or Read online
Structure of Boron-Based Catalysts from 11B Solid-State NMR at 35.2T, R.W. Dorn, et al., American Chemical Society Catalysis, 10, 13852-13866 (2020), See Science Highlight or Read online
Sunlight Produces Water-Soluble Chemicals from Asphalt, S. F. Niles, et al., Environmental Science and Technology, 54 (24), 8830-8836 (2020), Dataset, See Science Highlight or Read online
Tracking the Potential for Damage in Nb3Sn Superconducting Coils from the Hardness of Surrounding Copper, S. Balachandran, et al., Superconductor Science and Technology, 34, 025001 (2021) See Science Highlight or Read online
Broadening Participation in DC Field Facility by Bridging a Research Infrastructure Gap, C. Dhital, et al., Physical Review B, 102, 224408 (2020) See Science Highlight or Read online
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