RELATED FACILITIES OF INTEREST TO NHMFL USERS

Microkelvin Laboratory at the University of Florida

The Microkelvin Laboratory is an independent facility established in 1986 to conduct research at ultra-low temperatures. Two of the bays of MKL are equipped with copper nuclear demagnetization stages and are used for experiments down to 45uK. Experiments currently in progress include studies of nuclear magnetic ordering, quantum solids, heavy fermions, and Fermi liquids. Although not a part of the NHMFL program, the MKL provides the opportunity for research at ultra-low temperatures for users on a collaborative basis.

Center for Strutural Biology at the University of Florida

The NHMFL has contributed to the development of a new program, the Center for Structural Biology in the College of Medicine at the University of Florida. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques and high field MRI are used to study the form and function of biological structures from the molecular to the cellular scales of organization. The tour-de-force of the new Center will be a 12 T, 40 cm bore magnet to study whole animals as models of disease using NMR imaging and spectroscopy. It will be housed in the Brain Institute at the University of Florida.

The College of Medicine currently operates a 4.7 T, 33 cm magnet for small animal research as part of an NIH-funded center for NMR imaging. A 4 T whole-body magnet for human studies will be commissioned for the Brain Institute by the end of 1996. These resources and the planned development of the facilities for the Center of Structural Biology support and enhance the science programs of all faculty involved in magnetic resonance in association with the NHMFL programs at the University of Florida. Opportunities exist for outside users in a collaborative mode.

Compressed Flux Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Dynamic Experimentation Division

This well developed, but specialized, technique uses chemical explosive to compress flux, generated by capacitor discharge, into a small volume. The sample is sacrificed and the experiment is necessarily conducted outdoors at a secure firing site. Approximately two shots a day can be produced at a cost of about $8,000 each. DeHaas-vanAlphen oscillations and the upper critical fields of high temperature superconductors have been successfully measured.

Through cooperation between the Los Alamos Dynamic Experimentation Division and scientists from the Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics, Arzamas-16, Russia, a small number of generators have been obtained that are capable of producing 1,000 T in a 10 to 12 mm bore. Although not part of the NHMFL program, these generators can be available for NHMFL experiments of high scientific importance on a non-interference basis during scheduled testing. The cost, must be negotiated by the experimenter.

Characteristics: pulse period is less than 10 microseconds; temperatures are approximately 2 to 300 K. Magnet fields and bores are:

   Field (T)      Bore Size (mm)   
      200               28         
      500               15         
      1000           10 to 12

Sample holders covering temperatures from 0.5 to 300 K are available. Data acquisition and other support is provided to users.

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Curator: Scott Hannahs <sth@magnet.fsu.edu>
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