Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Our research work focuses on the crystallographic and magnetic properties of a variety of materials incorporating the Rare Earth elements. Intermetallic Rare Earth compounds already provide the World's strongest permanent-magnets and will be the basis for the World's next generation of refrigerant materials. Rare Earth elements are also an essential component of the high-temperature superconductors. We are interested in the fundamental magnetism of Rare Earth compounds. What are their magnetic structures ? Why do these particular structures form and why do they sometimes change when one changes external parameters such as temperature and magnetic field ?     If we are to develop a comprehensive understanding of the intrinsic magnetic behaviour of such strategically important materials we must be able to characterise fully the changes observed in the magnetic behaviour. In other words, how much energy is associated with the various fundamental interactions whose complex interplay determines the intrinsic magnetic behaviour ?  Heat capacity is a fundamental thermodynamic parameter which is a direct measure of how much energy is lost or gained by a compound as it undergoes a changes in its crystal or magnetic structure.                Accurate knowledge of the temperature dependence of Heat Capacity can be used to detect changes and also understand the nature of those changes, We plan to investigate a variety of important Rare Earth compounds using Heat Capacity measurements, in conjunction with other data (magnetisation, Mossbauer spectroscopy, neutron diffraction....).