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
-
Unconventional Charge Transport in Kondo insulator YbB12
18 July 2022
Three complementary measurements in intense magnetic fields shed light on a very unusual material that behaves like a metal, but does not conduct electricity!
-
A Deep Dive Into Forever Chemical Dark Matter
18 July 2022
Using the world's most powerful mass spectrometer, scientists have developed a new method to profile complex PFAS mixtures at the molecular level, facilitating future PFAS characterization in support of environmental and human health studies.
-
NMR FAIR Data: Phase-Separation Properties of an RNA-Binding Protein
17 June 2022
Evolutionary biologists reused FAIR data generated at the MagLab's NMR facility to model an RNA-binding protein in mammals dating back 160 million years and to explore how evolution and natural selection have influenced the structure of the protein. Their work suggests new strategies for improving our understanding of this protein, which could lead to improved therapies for neurodegenerative diseases like ALS.
Featured Publications
NMR FAIR Data - Effects of Natural Selection on the Phase-Separation Properties of an RNA-Binding Protein in Mammals, P. Dasmeh, et al., Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2021, Vol 38 (3), 940–951, See Science Highlight or Read online
One-way Optical Transparency at Telecommunications Wavelengths, K. Park, et al., Nature Quantum Materials (npj), 7 (1), 38 (2022), See Science Highlight or Read online
The Blood Proteoform Atlas: A reference map of proteoforms in human blood cells, R. D. Melani, et al., Science, 375 (6579), 411-419, See Science Highlight or Read online
Crossover Between Strongly Coupled and Weakly Coupled Exciton Superfluids, X. Liu, et al., Science, 375 (6577), 205-209 (2022), See Science Highlight or Read online
Isolation of a Triplet Benzene Dianion, C. A. Gould, et al., Nature Chemistry, 13, 1001-1005 (2021), See Science Highlight or Read online
New correlated quasiparticles in an atomically-thin semiconductor, J. Li, et al., Nano Letters, 22, 426 (2022), See Science Highlight or Read online
Magnetostriction in AlFe2B2 at 25 T Measured by X-Ray Diffraction, S. Sharma, et al., Physical Review Materials, 5, 064409 (2021), See Science Highlight or Read online
Understanding How Fungi Build Their Cell Walls for Protection, A. Chakraborty, et al., Nature Communications, 12, 6346 (2021), See Science Highlight or Read online
Quantum Rivals in Nitride Materials, P. Dang, et al., Science Advances, 7 (8), eabf1388 (2021), See Science Highlight or Read online
Nb3Sn films via a novel hot-bronze method for compact accelerators, W. K. Withanage, et al., Superconductor Science and Technology, 34 (6), 06LT01 (2021), See Science Highlight or Read online
Unusual high-field state discovered in mineral atacamite, L. Heinze, et al., Physical Review Letters, 126 (20), 207201 (2021), See Science Highlight or Read online