MRI: Acquisition of a SQUID magnetometer to support research and education in engineering, physical, biological and geological sciences

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

This project will acquire a state-of-the-art superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer. The proposed instrument will measure the magnetic properties of materials with 100-fold better sensitivity than magnetometers currently available to the PI and co-PIs, and provide new capabilities for measuring magnetic properties as a function of temperature and sample orientation. The proposed magnetometer will be able to characterize the magnetic properties of minute quantities of magnetic material over a temperature range from 1.8 K to 1000 K. Currently, no measurement system with comparable capability is available to researchers and small businesses in Oregon. The proposed acquisition of this equipment will fill a critical void in the research infrastructure of Oregon, serving as a shared resource for measurement needs of many users. The instrument will be vital to shortening the scientific discovery and technology development. Advanced magnetic and biological imaging methods developed using this instrument will further enhance the research infrastructure to provide valuable new capabilities for scientists. Graduate and undergraduate students participating in the research projects will gain experience in advanced measurement techniques on a platform widely used in research and development laboratories worldwide. The PIs will leverage the established partnerships with community outreach programs at Oregon State University to involve high school and underrepresented freshmen in research. The availability of this instrument will help attract excellent researchers to Oregon universities and companies. The proposed SQUID magnetometer will critically support and enable an unprecedented trans-disciplinary range of research in engineering, materials science, physics, chemistry, biology and geology in Oregon. The instrument will support diverse research activities including the following: (a) measuring the properties of new materials for next generation magnetic random access memory, (b) measuring the magnetism of ocean/lake sediments to better understand the geomagnetic dynamo, geological surface processes and earth climate, (c) calibrating advanced magnetic imaging techniques for the development of spintronic circuits, (d) characterizing magnetite particles found in salmon olfactory tissue to locate the elusive magnetoreceptors that enable these fish to successfully navigate through their annual migrations, (e) measuring temperature-dependent magnetic properties of magnetic nanoparticle tracers to enable biomedical imaging techniques with sub-cellular resolution in living tissue, (f) characterizing the anisotropic magnetic properties of novel composite materials prepared for 3D inkjet printing, (g) measuring the weak magnetic signature of novel multiferroic materials and transparent conductors, and (h) evaluate magnetic phase transitions in novel nanostructured superconductors.