Precision X-ray Diffraction Studies in High Pulsed Magnetic Fields at the Advanced Photon Source

Abstract

Magnetic fields provide a contact-free and versatile experimental “knob” for tuning in different properties of matter [1, 2]. There are numerous research laboratories and groups worldwide dedicated to studies of materials in magnetic fields. General themes of their research encompass such diverse topics and materials as competing order in superconductors, geometrically frustrated magnets, multi-ferroic oxides, quantum phase transitions, meta-magnetism, quantum Hall effects, orbital physics, spin-gap compounds, microstructures in melts, biological systems, magnetic aggregates, etc. Nearly all such studies of materials in extreme magnetic fields (>15 Tesla), however, have been focused on transport, thermodynamic, and some optical spectroscopic measurements. Detailed information on the atomic-scale nature of the magnetic field induced phases, on the other hand, has continued to remain unexplored, leading to a knowledge gap in our understanding of these systems. Synchrotron scattering studies can provide a mechanism for filling this gap, but their use has been hampered by the complexity involved in generating high fields with necessary optical access for such measurements.