The Quantum Design Physical Properties Measurement System combined with a compatible cryogenic Atomic Force/Magnetic Force scanning probe Microscope (AFM/MFM) will provide a powerful and versatile tool to central Ohio's materials research community. New magnetic materials and devices with unprecedented capabilities and levels of performance are being created by tailoring the structure and composition of multi-component materials at the nanometer scale. This versatile instrument will allow measurements of electronic transport, spin transport and magnetic properties of such materials as well as topographic and magnetic imaging over a wide range of temperatures and magnetic fields (up to 14 Tesla). This powerful and broadly applicable tool, not currently available to the OSU materials research community at large, will enable and accelerate a broad spectrum of materials research topics. In particular it is designed to address challenges faced by OSU's newly awarded NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) which is studying two topics in magnetoelectronics: Spin-Preserving Networks and Complex Oxide Heterostructures. The instrument will provide MRSEC researchers with the critical ability to probe systems ranging from individual magnetic structures to novel bulk materials. It will be installed in an existing OSU user facility to guarantee long-term instrument maintenance and upkeep and to ensure access to the instrument by the central Ohio's broad academic and commercial materials community. The instrument will broaden outreach and enhance the education of undergraduate and graduate students in cutting edge materials research.
Layman's Summary: New materials with novel properties are enabling technologies that enhance the productivity of commercial enterprises and improve quality of life. The discovery of new capabilities is critically dependent on the tools that tell us how these new, often tiny, materials and devices work. The instruments needed to do this are increasingly sophisticated and expensive, putting them beyond the reach of most researchers. We propose to purchase such a powerful tool, a High Field Physical Properties Measurement System with Cryogenic AFM/MFM, that helps us understand a variety of materials. This instrument is not currently available to the materials research community, at large, in central Ohio. The instrument will reside in an existing OSU user facility open to both university and industrial users. In addition to ensuring broad researcher access, locating it in our facility will guarantee that this powerful instrument is kept in top condition by professionals to maximize scientific and public returns on this research infrastructure investment. This tool will particularly benefit a recently NSF funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center that is focused on enabling new magnetic functionalities in technologically important materials. The automated nature of the instrument makes it accessible to undergraduate and graduate students and so enhances our ability to teach tomorrow?s scientific leaders how cutting edge materials research is done.
" funded by NSF award DMR-1040296 was to make a state-of-the-art materials characterization instrument available to the broad materials research community in central Ohio and particularly at Ohio State University (OSU). An instrument combining high magnetic field, broad electrical and magnetic measurement capabilities and nanoscale magnetic imaging was particularly needed. The Quantum Design (San Diego, CA) Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS) combined with a low-temperature Atomic Force/Magnetic Force Microscope (AFM/MFM) supplied by ION-TOF USA (Chestnut Ridge, NY) meets these requirements. This instrument was commissioned in March 2012 and is now available to users from the Ohio State University (OSU) research community as well as to academic and industrial users throughout the state of Ohio. The instrument has been installed in the NanoSystems Laboratory (NSL), an open facility available on a user-fee basis making the instrument available to any interested researcher, both academic and industrial. This has broadened the impact of the instrument compared to installment in a single PI laboratory. The NSL provides technical expertise and maintenance continuity that insures efficient and safe use by researchers having a broad spectrum of training, experience and background. Attentive maintenance by professional NSL staff also maximizes the fraction of time the equipment is available for use and extends its longevity. The instrument includes a He reliquifier which significantly reduces operating costs associated with liquid He needed for cooling the instrument making it more affordable, and so more frequently used. Since being commissioned in March 2012, the use of the instrument has increased steadily. It is now used over 66% of available time (i.e., 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Since commissioning, it has served 27 users including undergraduate and graduate students, and postdocs; amongst these are five female users. The instrument has benefited 13 research groups and one external industry user. The instrument is heavily used for electrical characterization of novel materials and devices. It is providing data central to the OSU Center for Emergent Materials (NSF CEMRI) research programs that include studies of novel double perovskite materials and electrical characterization of spintronic devices. The availability of this advanced instrument was helpful in establishing a collaboration between the OSU Center for Emergent Materials and Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic) involving a Fulbright Scholar from the Czech Republic who is using the low-temperature AFM/MFM for studies of novel spintronic devices. In the course of furthering scientific research, this instrument is serving an educational role by training young scientists through training of graduate and undergraduate research assistants, and through demonstrations for undergraduate students visiting the user facility.
