Research

We use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to investigate microscopic properties of materials, particularly novel electronic properties of quantum materials.

 

The basic principle of NMR is identical to that of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in medicine. This is a technique in which nuclei are used as local probes of the electronic and structural properties of materials. NMR provides a wealth of microscopic (i.e. at the atomic level) information on materials.

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Quantum materials are those materials whose essential properties cannot be described in terms of semiclassical particles and low-level quantum mechanics (Wikipedia). They may also be defined as "materials with novel entanglement or topological properties that is, materials with entanglement beyond the requirement of Fermi statistics and with topological responses" (Keimer & Moore, Nat. Phys. 2017). Basically, we speak of quantum materials wherever quantum mechanics or topology give rise to novel properties/states of matter.

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The materials we are studying are mainly unconventional superconductors (copper and iron based high temperature superconductors as well as field-induced unusual superconducting states), unconventional magnetic systems (one-dimensional systems as well as frustrated two-dimensional systems). We also investigate other materials with strong electron correlation as well as a number of chemical substances.

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A particularly noteworthy aspect of our research is the use of very intense magnetic fields, provided by either superconducting or resistive coils. Our lab is a large-scale research facility accessible for both in-house and international users. In many of the systems we study the field modifies the physical properties in a very interesting way.