EAPSI: Probing Phase Transitions in Magnetic Materials

Lawson Matthew M, Woodland CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project explores changes in the magnetic properties of materials that are important to our understanding of superconductors. Superconductors are materials that allow the flow of electricity without electrical resistance. These materials are widely used in MRI machines, MagLev trains, and scientific equipment. A better understanding will lead to cheaper and more practical equipment, as well as new technologies. Working in the lab of the expert sample grower Professor Kazuyoshi Yoshimura in Kyoto will enable rapid sample production and study. This project proposes to use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to study spin fluctuations in CsCo2Se2, a material with a two dimensional electronic structure, near an antiferromagnetic phase transition. This will be done by measuring the spin lattice relaxation rate (T1-1 ) as a function of temperature. This measurement will be repeated at each nuclear site in the crystal. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.