Oxford Quantum Materials Platform Grant
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Oxford Physics
Abstract
Quantum materials represent tangible manifestations of some of the deepest concepts in quantum physics, and have the potential to produce radically new device concepts that could transform our world. Our ability to shrink silicon-based computer chip and memory components down to smaller and smaller scales is fast approaching its physical and conceptual limits, and many industry leaders believe quantum materials to be the only way to sustaining our current rate of growth in information technology. For example, quantum materials such as Topological Insulators may hold the key to build powerful quantum computers and unbreakable communication protocols. The discovery of superconductivity in 1911 led, many decades later, to the realisation of practical MRI imaging, revolutionising modern medicine. The next generation of superconducting materials may well deliver faster communication and efficient energy transport and storage.
Although basic research in quantum materials is constantly abuzz with new concepts and new discoveries, translating these breakthroughs into proof-of-principle devices, such as "smart" transistors employing the magneto-electric effect, is an enormous challenge, which can only be met by strong, cohesive groups having a combination of fundamental and applied expertise. This Platform Grant will support a world-class team of 10 Academics, 2 EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellows and up to 8 Research Associates, with expertise ranging from the spectroscopy of quantum materials using photons, neutrons and muons to materials modelling to the growth of novel materials and patterning of prototype quantum devices using nanofabrication techniques. Specifically, the Platform will enable us to focus on a series of development projects, from blue sky to the transition to real-world applications, with the potential of significant breakthroughs and technological outcomes. The scientific portfolio of the Platform will exploit a series of recent developments in experimental techniques, many of them initiated by our Research Associates. Examples include: the upgrade of our unique pulsed magnetic field system, which can now reach 65 Tesla (a record for the UK); measurements of electronic properties on micron-size crystals using nano-lithography and advanced microtools; the combination of first-principle theory and experiments such as Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy; and the ability to grow exotic quantum materials in thin-film form and to pattern them to build prototype devices such as transistors or memories. The Platform Grant portfolio will evolve dynamically to support new and as yet unforeseen projects, with the potential of generating further step changes in our understanding of quantum materials and of providing UK industries with a first glimpse of new disruptive technologies.
The Platform Grant will enable us to retain and develop key high-level technical and scientific expertise, which is essential for the success of these projects and represents a strategic asset of the Quantum Materials group. In particular, our career development plan will focus on building breadth and independence for all staff associated with the Platform Grant.
Although basic research in quantum materials is constantly abuzz with new concepts and new discoveries, translating these breakthroughs into proof-of-principle devices, such as "smart" transistors employing the magneto-electric effect, is an enormous challenge, which can only be met by strong, cohesive groups having a combination of fundamental and applied expertise. This Platform Grant will support a world-class team of 10 Academics, 2 EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellows and up to 8 Research Associates, with expertise ranging from the spectroscopy of quantum materials using photons, neutrons and muons to materials modelling to the growth of novel materials and patterning of prototype quantum devices using nanofabrication techniques. Specifically, the Platform will enable us to focus on a series of development projects, from blue sky to the transition to real-world applications, with the potential of significant breakthroughs and technological outcomes. The scientific portfolio of the Platform will exploit a series of recent developments in experimental techniques, many of them initiated by our Research Associates. Examples include: the upgrade of our unique pulsed magnetic field system, which can now reach 65 Tesla (a record for the UK); measurements of electronic properties on micron-size crystals using nano-lithography and advanced microtools; the combination of first-principle theory and experiments such as Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy; and the ability to grow exotic quantum materials in thin-film form and to pattern them to build prototype devices such as transistors or memories. The Platform Grant portfolio will evolve dynamically to support new and as yet unforeseen projects, with the potential of generating further step changes in our understanding of quantum materials and of providing UK industries with a first glimpse of new disruptive technologies.
The Platform Grant will enable us to retain and develop key high-level technical and scientific expertise, which is essential for the success of these projects and represents a strategic asset of the Quantum Materials group. In particular, our career development plan will focus on building breadth and independence for all staff associated with the Platform Grant.
Planned Impact
Beyond academia, the Platform Grant will have an impact on:
(a) The existing UK industrial base: major UK industries in the field of medical imaging (e.g., Siemens Magnet Technologies UK) and cryogenic instrumentation (Oxford Instruments, Agilent) rely for many of their products on technologies based on quantum materials such as superconductors. This is a highly competitive field, and collaboration with academia is perceived to be crucial by CEOs and company directors, as demonstrated, for example, by the sizeable funding they provide to the newly created Centre for Applied Superconductivity. The research underpinned by this Platform Grant will develop next-generation materials for devices such as MRI machines, which would enable a much more open design, radically improving patient experience, and would not need to be cooled by expensive and scarce liquid helium. It will also support a suite of advanced measurement techniques, and new methodologies that exploit them, which will accelerate the development of cheaper and smarter products.
(b) Future industries: the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors lists many quantum materials, such as complex oxides, Mott materials, molecular materials and multiferroics as "emerging research materials". Companies such as Samsung and Microsoft are investing heavily in quantum materials research. An example is provided by the new field of topological insulators, which has made enormous strides, from early proofs of concepts to the design and fabrication of gated devices in which the Fermi energy can be precisely tuned. It has been proposed that devices combining topological insulators with superconductors or magnets can lead to a robust realisation of quantum computing, since the qubits would be topologically protected from decoherence. With the support of this Platform Grant, the quantum materials group will exploit a series of recent University investments in thin film growth and nanofabrication, and will bring to bear a powerful combination of theory and experiments, so that novel quantum materials can be grown in the form of thin film and heterostructures and patterned at the nanoscale into proof-of-principle devices. These developments have clear transformative potential for the UK industrial base, and could underpin entirely new devices and products for information storage and processing, sensing, communications, and other applications, with countless advantages. For example, fast, non-volatile multiferroic memories would use much less power than present technologies, and would enable the realisation of the "normally-off" laptop - a true paradigm shift in consumer computing. Topological quantum materials could be the core technology of the first generation of room-temperature, iPhone-size quantum computers.
(c) The general public: while a number of brilliant science communicators have placed high-energy physics and astronomy firmly in the public eye, there is still a tremendous need for the general public and policymakers to understand how basic research in materials properties leads to the development of technologies and products that will ultimately change our way of life. Such understanding would have the potential to increase engagement in physical sciences at school, interest in national laboratories such as Diamond and ISIS, and contributions to the innovation environment of the UK. The counterintuitive behaviour of our quantum materials will provide intriguing and powerful examples of how quantum physics translates to macroscopic properties and new technologies.
(a) The existing UK industrial base: major UK industries in the field of medical imaging (e.g., Siemens Magnet Technologies UK) and cryogenic instrumentation (Oxford Instruments, Agilent) rely for many of their products on technologies based on quantum materials such as superconductors. This is a highly competitive field, and collaboration with academia is perceived to be crucial by CEOs and company directors, as demonstrated, for example, by the sizeable funding they provide to the newly created Centre for Applied Superconductivity. The research underpinned by this Platform Grant will develop next-generation materials for devices such as MRI machines, which would enable a much more open design, radically improving patient experience, and would not need to be cooled by expensive and scarce liquid helium. It will also support a suite of advanced measurement techniques, and new methodologies that exploit them, which will accelerate the development of cheaper and smarter products.
(b) Future industries: the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors lists many quantum materials, such as complex oxides, Mott materials, molecular materials and multiferroics as "emerging research materials". Companies such as Samsung and Microsoft are investing heavily in quantum materials research. An example is provided by the new field of topological insulators, which has made enormous strides, from early proofs of concepts to the design and fabrication of gated devices in which the Fermi energy can be precisely tuned. It has been proposed that devices combining topological insulators with superconductors or magnets can lead to a robust realisation of quantum computing, since the qubits would be topologically protected from decoherence. With the support of this Platform Grant, the quantum materials group will exploit a series of recent University investments in thin film growth and nanofabrication, and will bring to bear a powerful combination of theory and experiments, so that novel quantum materials can be grown in the form of thin film and heterostructures and patterned at the nanoscale into proof-of-principle devices. These developments have clear transformative potential for the UK industrial base, and could underpin entirely new devices and products for information storage and processing, sensing, communications, and other applications, with countless advantages. For example, fast, non-volatile multiferroic memories would use much less power than present technologies, and would enable the realisation of the "normally-off" laptop - a true paradigm shift in consumer computing. Topological quantum materials could be the core technology of the first generation of room-temperature, iPhone-size quantum computers.
(c) The general public: while a number of brilliant science communicators have placed high-energy physics and astronomy firmly in the public eye, there is still a tremendous need for the general public and policymakers to understand how basic research in materials properties leads to the development of technologies and products that will ultimately change our way of life. Such understanding would have the potential to increase engagement in physical sciences at school, interest in national laboratories such as Diamond and ISIS, and contributions to the innovation environment of the UK. The counterintuitive behaviour of our quantum materials will provide intriguing and powerful examples of how quantum physics translates to macroscopic properties and new technologies.
Organisations
- University of Oxford (Lead Research Organisation)
- Local Enterprise Partnerships (Collaboration)
- Tokamak Solutions (Collaboration)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (Collaboration)
- Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Collaboration)
- Siemens AG (Collaboration)
- De Beers Group (Collaboration)
- Oxford Instruments (United Kingdom) (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (Collaboration)
Publications
Xu R
(2022)
Evolution of the Electronic Structure of Ultrathin MnBi2Te4 Films.
in Nano letters
Yuan H
(2016)
Evolution of the Valley Position in Bulk Transition-Metal Chalcogenides and Their Monolayer Limit.
in Nano letters
Liu J
(2020)
Exchange Bias in Magnetic Topological Insulator Superlattices.
in Nano letters
Li W
(2019)
Dimensional Crossover in the Carrier Mobility of Two-Dimensional Semiconductors: The Case of InSe.
in Nano letters
An L
(2020)
Interaction effects and superconductivity signatures in twisted double-bilayer WSe2.
in Nanoscale horizons
Liu J
(2020)
Kerr effect anomaly in magnetic topological insulator superlattices.
in Nanotechnology
Jani H
(2021)
Antiferromagnetic half-skyrmions and bimerons at room temperature
in Nature
Riley JM
(2018)
Crossover from lattice to plasmonic polarons of a spin-polarised electron gas in ferromagnetic EuO.
in Nature communications
Yang HF
(2019)
Topological Lifshitz transitions and Fermi arc manipulation in Weyl semimetal NbAs.
in Nature communications
Miller TA
(2015)
Terahertz field control of in-plane orbital order in La(0.5)Sr(1.5)MnO4.
in Nature communications
| Description | This was a people-centric multi-investigator award, which spanned several subfields within Quantum Materials. Some examples of discoveries we made are listed below. (1) The coupling between the spin and momentum of carriers in the surface states of topological insulators (TIs) is key to many of their proposed technological applications. We have shown that, by modifying the surface of the TIs with molecules with controllable spin, we can separate the roles of electrostatic and magnetic components of a scattering potential, thereby probing experimentally this momentum-spin locking. (2) The magnetic interactions in yttrium iron garnet (YIG), the current best-in-class material for magnonics applications, were successfully measured by time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering. Previous models of magnetism in YIG fail to describe the measured optical magnon modes, and a new model was developed which shows that the magnetic interactions are both longer-ranged and more complex than was previously understood. The results provide the basis for accurate calculations of the finite temperature magnetic properties of YIG, necessary for next-generation magnonic devices. 3) Topological textures in magnetic materials are currently being developed as compact and efficient information carriers for new memory and logical applications. We discovered a new form of such textures, known as merons, in hematite (iron oxide) - one of the simplest and most abundant magnetic materials. Merons exist at room temperature and can be created and destroyed at will by temperature cycling. Device concepts based on merons are currently being tested based on this discovery. 4) Molecules engineered to exhibit coherent quantum spin degrees of freedom have been proposed as quantum information building-blocks; electric field control of the spin would offer significant architectural advantages in implementing quantum technologies. We have established methods for studying spin-electric couplings in molecules, demonstrated coherent electric-field-control of molecular quantum spin states, and elucidated the structural design parameters for controlling molecular spin-electric couplings. The results prompt mechanisms by which electron spin resonance may be implemented in scanning tunnelling microscopy, as well as offering general insights into coupled degrees of freedom in condensed matter. 5) Magnetic topological insulators (MTIs) are a class of materials in which a topologically nontrivial electronic band structure coexists with long-range ferromagnetic order. The ferromagnetic ground state can break time-reversal symmetry, opening a gap in the topological surface states whose size is dependent on the magnitude of the magnetic moment. We systematically explored doping with transition metal and rare earth ion, as well as proximity coupling to ferromagnetic layer, both in hybrid systems as well as in so-called intrinsic TIs. In particular doping with rare-earth ions is one way to introduce higher magnetic moments into a material, however, in Bi2Te3 bulk crystals, the solubility limit is only a few percent. Using molecular beam epitaxy for the growth of doped (Sb,Bi)2(Se,Te)3 TI thin films, high doping concentrations of Dy, Ho, and Gd were achieved while preserving their high crystalline quality. While having been able to achieve high magnetic moments in the doped films, they were not ferromagnetically ordered. By making use of interfacial effects, magnetic long-range order has been achieved, e.g., in Dy-doped Bi2Te3, proximity-coupled to the MTI Cr:Sb2Te3. Engineered MTI heterostructures offer unique and new possibilities that combine the advantageous properties of different layers, and thus provide an ideal materials platform enabling the observation new quantum effects at higher temperatures. (6) Weyl fermions are fundamental particles that are the solutions of a simplified form of the Dirac equation. They have not been found as free particles yet, but can be created in crystalline solids at points where electronic bands cross and certain symmetry conditions apply. A significant challenge is to identify real-world materials which host Weyl fermions and which are sufficiently simple as to enable their topological properties to be investigated. We succeeded in finding the first such system through electronic structure calculations and experiments which probed the structure of the electron bands near the Fermi level. 7) The discovery of the nematic electronic states in iron-chalcogenides: Nematic electronic states are new organization of quantum matter which breaks the rotational symmetry of a tetragonal plane lattice from four-fold symmetric down to two-fold symmetric and they have been suggested to play an important role in understanding the electronic behavior of unconventional temperature superconductors. The platform grant has enable the development of new single crystals to investigate nematic electronic phases using different experimental techniques (quantum oscillations, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy) under extreme conditions of high magnetic field, high applied pressure and applied strain. 8) Development of advanced experimental capabilities to explore quantum materials at extremely high pressures using diamond anvil cells. 9) CoIs working on the Platform Grant have supplied several new materials to our quantum materials group and our collaborators for further studies, including a) Indium doped perovskite compounds, demonstrating suppression of phase transitions and enhanced both stability and efficiency. b) The demonstration of phonon-driven piezomagnetic effect in CoF2, providing a new mechanism to manipulate magnetism in antiferromagnetic systems. c) Spin-ice materials with low levels of intrinsic defects, which have a crucial role in determining the magnetic ground state of geometrically frustrated systems with enhanced quantum fluctuations. 10) We discovered that intense pulses of electromagnetic radiation can break symmetry in quantum materials and lead to emergent properties, such as ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism. This principle was subsequently demonstrated experimentally in the material CoF2. 11)For heavy transition metal ions the spin and orbital angular momentum of electrons are entangled and mixed spin-orbital magnetic interactions have been theoretically hypothesized in certain circumstances between ions placed in a crystal lattice. In a series of honeycomb iridium oxides and their three-dimensional structural generalizations we have experimentally uncovered novel forms of magnetic orders with counter-rotating incommensurate spirals, which cannot be stabilized by conventional magnetic interactions, but naturally appear in the presence of spin-orbital exchange, this providing direct evidence that such interactions can exist in the solid state. The results open possibilities for finding new forms of quantum phases of matter in materials with strong electron correlations and spin-orbit interactions. 12) We have determined phenomenological relationships between crystal structure and magnetism in quadruple perovskite transition metal oxides including a recently discovered family of columnar ordered materials. We found novel ferrimagnetic spin reorientation phenomena and incommensurate textures stabilised by complex magneto-orbital coupling schemes. This study was extended into hybrid organic-inorganic model quantum magnets, using quantum crystallographic techniques to establish fundamentals of magneto-orbital coupling and magnetic exchange. We also used a combination of sophisticated synchrotron x-ray techniques to show deterministic functionality in thin film multiferroic devices, and demonstrated principles by which epitaxial strain may be used to engineer single multiferroic domains. |
| Exploitation Route | (1) Topological insulators could be a promising route for novel forms of quantum information processing. (2) YIG is a key component of current and future IT applications, especially in the emerging field of magnonics. 3) "Meronics" could become a revolutionary technology for low-energy logic applications. 4),5)&6) Molecules engineered to exhibit coherent quantum spin degrees of freedom and magnetic topological insulators and exotic quasiparticles such as Weyl fermions have been proposed as quantum information building blocks. 7) Superconductors have already found wide use in technology (e.g., MRI machines). Discovering new superconductors with better properties, including a higher transition temperature, will make these devices cheaper, potentially revolutionising fields such as energy transmission, computing, and transportation. 8&9) New sample growth methods and experimental techniques will enable other researchers to launch research programmes in the field of quantum materials. 10) "Switching" properties at the picosecond timescale could pave the way for ultrafast logic applications. |
| Sectors | Electronics |
| Description | A state-of-the-art optical floating-zone furnace for crystal growth at high pressures |
| Amount | £893,916 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/R024278/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 08/2020 |
| Description | A state-of-the-art optical floating-zone furnace for crystal growth at high pressures |
| Amount | £893,916 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/R024278/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 09/2020 |
| Description | International Exchanges 2015 Cost Share (China) |
| Amount | £11,621 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | IE150959 |
| Organisation | The Royal Society |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2016 |
| End | 12/2018 |
| Description | Johnson RS-URL Fellowship |
| Amount | £505,068 (GBP) |
| Organisation | The Royal Society |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2016 |
| End | 12/2020 |
| Description | Unravelling halide segregation in hybrid perovskites for Si tandem photovoltaics |
| Amount | £1,121,958 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/P033229/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2018 |
| End | 06/2021 |
| Title | Single crystal growth by chemical vapour transport method |
| Description | I set up a chemical vapour transport (CVT) furnace and several solution growth facilities in the Clarendon Laboratory (Oxford) for growing single crystals of frustrated quantum magnets, pnictide superconductors and inorganic-organic hybrid perovskites. CVT is a method that produces the most high-purity crystals compared to other crystal growth systems. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | We have publisheshed over 10 papers within 2 years, and all the materials investigated in those papers, where syntheised and grown using CVT setup at the Clarendon Laboratory. |
| Title | Vector mapping of antiferromagnetic structures and domains by photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) |
| Description | We developed a new method to image antiferromagnetic structures and domains, based on photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) operating with X-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD). Previously, contrast XMLD-PEEM arising from these structures was used to produce maps of the domain morphology. We improved the methodology by analysing simultaneously multiple images collected with different rotations of the sample, thereby producing detailed maps of the staggered magnetisation. This method led to numerous publications, including the discovery of vortices in alpha-Fe2O3 |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This method has been made available to all Diamond users and has been included in their software suite. |
| Title | Anomalous high-magnetic field electronic state of the nematic superconductors FeSe1-xSx |
| Description | These data are raw data as part of the manuscript: "Anomalous high-magnetic field electronic state of the nematic superconductors FeSe1-xSx" (arXiv:1904.02522) https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.02522. The manuscript will be published as an Article in Physical Review Research 2020. The magnetotransport data were collected using high magnetic fields with Helium 3 cryostats either in Nijmegen up to 38T , Tallahahassee up to 45T and pulsed fields close to 65T in Toulouse. The data were collected using lock-in amplifiers. The data here are part of the figures presented in the manuscript were detailed figure captions are provided. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Understanding superconductivity requires detailed knowledge of the normal electronic state from which it emerges. A nematic electronic state that breaks the rotational symmetry of the lattice can potentially promote unique scattering relevant for superconductivity. Here, we investigate the normal transport of superconducting FeSe1-xSx across a nematic phase transition using high magnetic fields up to 69 T to establish the temperature and field-dependencies. We find that the nematic state is an anomalous non-Fermi liquid, dominated by a linear resistivity at low temperatures that can transform into a Fermi liquid, depending on the composition x and the impurity level. Near the nematic end point, we find an extended temperature regime with T1.5 resistivity. The transverse magnetoresistance inside the nematic phase has as a H1.55 dependence over a large magnetic field range and it displays an unusual peak at low temperatures inside the nematic phase. Our study reveals anomalous transport inside the nematic phase, driven by the subtle interplay between the changes in the electronic structure of a multi-band system and the unusual scattering processes affected by large magnetic fields and disorder |
| URL | https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:37ed680b-6992-4d97-b929-c9af2559a029 |
| Title | Quantum oscillations in the nematic superconductors FeSe1-xSx |
| Description | These are the Raw data used to generate the figures related to the publication: "Evolution of the Fermi surface of the nematic superconductors FeSe1-xSx" by A. I. Coldea et al. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The existence of a nematic phase transition in iron-chalcogenide superconductors poses an intriguing question about its impact on superconductivity. To understand the nature of this unique quantum phase transition, it is essential to study how the electronic structure changes across this transition at low temperatures. Here, we investigate the evolution of the Fermi surfaces and electronic interactions across the nematic phase transition of FeSe1-xSx using Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in high magnetic fields up to 45 T in the low temperature regime down to 0.4 K. Most of the Fermi surfaces of FeSe1-xSx monotonically increase in size except for a prominent low frequency oscillation associated with a small, but highly mobile band, which disappears at the nematic phase boundary near x ~ 0.17, indicative of a topological Lifshitz transition. The quasiparticle masses are larger inside the nematic phase, indicative of a strongly correlated state, but they become suppressed outside it. The experimentally observed changes in the Fermi surface topology, together with the varying degree of electronic correlations, will change the balance of electronic interactions in the multi-band system FeSe1-xSx and promote different kz-dependent superconducting pairing channels inside and outside the nematic phase. |
| URL | https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:dad66609-f461-4f7d-9373-190e309a2ed9 |
| Title | Quenched nematic criticality separating two superconducting domes in an iron-based superconductor under pressure |
| Description | The data reflect experimental transport and tunnel diode oscillator measurements collected in zero field or in magnetic fields either in Oxford or at the NHMFL Tallahassee Florida. Measurements were performed at different applied pressuresusing a piston pressure cell. The data set contain raw data plotted in Figures of the manuscript arXiv:1902.11276 (https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.11276). |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The nematic electronic state and its associated critical fluctuations have emerged as a potential candidate for the superconducting pairing in various unconventional superconductors. However, in most materials their coexistence with magnetically ordered phases poses a significant challenge in determining their importance. Here, by combining chemical and hydrostatic physical pressure in FeSe0.89S0.11, we access a nematic quantum phase transition isolated from any other competing magnetic phases. From quantum oscillations in high magnetic fields, we trace the evolution of the Fermi surface and electronic correlations as a function of applied pressure and detect a Lifshitz transition that separates two distinct superconducting regions. One emerges from the nematic phase with a small Fermi surface and strong electronic correlations, while the other one has a large Fermi surface and weak correlations that promotes nesting and stabilization of a magnetically ordered phase at high pressures. The absence of mass divergence at the nematic quantum phase transition suggests that the nematic fluctuations could be quenched by the strong coupling to the lattice or local strain effects. A direct consequence is the weakening of superconductivity at the nematic quantum phase transition in the absence of magnetically driven fluctuations. |
| URL | https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b739b72e-b6a4-4c4b-bc5f-6848546ae274 |
| Title | Upper critical field in a stoichiometric iron-based superconductor, CaKFe4As4 |
| Description | These data are part of the manuscript (arXiv:2003.02888) entitled: "Competing pairing interactions responsible for the large upper critical field in a stoichiometric iron-based superconductor, CaKFe4As4". The data represent resistivity data collected at low temperatures and in magnetic fields up 16T using a superconducting magnet in Oxford as well as in pulsed fields up to 80T at the LNCMI in Toulouse, France. The measurements were performed between 2K and 300K either at constant temperature and varying the magnetic field or keeping the field constant and varying the temperature. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The upper critical field of multiband superconductors is an important quantity that can reveal details about the nature of the superconducting pairing. Here we experimentally map out the complete upper-critical-field phase diagram of a stoichiometric superconductor, CaKFe4As4, up to 90T for different orientations of the magnetic field and at temperatures down to 4.2K. The upper critical fields are extremely large, reaching values close to ~3Tc at the lowest temperature, and the anisotropy decreases dramatically with temperature, leading to essentially isotropic superconductivity at 4.2K. We find that the temperature dependence of the upper critical field can be well described by a two-band model in the clean limit with band-coupling parameters favoring intraband over interband interactions. The large Pauli paramagnetic effects together with the presence of the shallow bands is consistent with the stabilization of an FFLO state at low temperatures in this clean superconductor. |
| URL | https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ea841ce1-0e22-412d-a717-4d269b1e47ed |
| Description | Centre for Applied Superconductivity (CfAS) |
| Organisation | De Beers Group |
| Department | Element Six |
| Country | Luxembourg |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The Centre for Applied Superconductivity is a joint project between the Materials Department and the Physics Department of the University of Oxford and the local industrial partners and research centres with interests in future applications of superconducting materials. Our Centre aims to pursue projects that can lead to future technologies and lead to the discovery of novel superconducting materials. The Oxford Quantum Materials Platform Grant team is providing equipment and critical expertise to the Centre, both in the measurement of superconducting cables and joints and in fundamental aspects of superconducting research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | CfAS has funded new laboratories in both Physics and Materials Departments and new growth and characterisation equipment, as well as two support staff (one technician and one engineer) and several studentships and apprenticeships. The new labs and equipment are available to all Quantum Material Platform Grant CoIs, not only for superconductivity research, but also to further the broader aims of the Grant. |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between physics and materials involving the superconductivity, cryogenics and instrumentation industrial sectors. The CfAS labs have just been completed, so there is no publication output to report yet. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Centre for Applied Superconductivity (CfAS) |
| Organisation | Local Enterprise Partnerships |
| Department | Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The Centre for Applied Superconductivity is a joint project between the Materials Department and the Physics Department of the University of Oxford and the local industrial partners and research centres with interests in future applications of superconducting materials. Our Centre aims to pursue projects that can lead to future technologies and lead to the discovery of novel superconducting materials. The Oxford Quantum Materials Platform Grant team is providing equipment and critical expertise to the Centre, both in the measurement of superconducting cables and joints and in fundamental aspects of superconducting research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | CfAS has funded new laboratories in both Physics and Materials Departments and new growth and characterisation equipment, as well as two support staff (one technician and one engineer) and several studentships and apprenticeships. The new labs and equipment are available to all Quantum Material Platform Grant CoIs, not only for superconductivity research, but also to further the broader aims of the Grant. |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between physics and materials involving the superconductivity, cryogenics and instrumentation industrial sectors. The CfAS labs have just been completed, so there is no publication output to report yet. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Centre for Applied Superconductivity (CfAS) |
| Organisation | Oxford Instruments |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The Centre for Applied Superconductivity is a joint project between the Materials Department and the Physics Department of the University of Oxford and the local industrial partners and research centres with interests in future applications of superconducting materials. Our Centre aims to pursue projects that can lead to future technologies and lead to the discovery of novel superconducting materials. The Oxford Quantum Materials Platform Grant team is providing equipment and critical expertise to the Centre, both in the measurement of superconducting cables and joints and in fundamental aspects of superconducting research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | CfAS has funded new laboratories in both Physics and Materials Departments and new growth and characterisation equipment, as well as two support staff (one technician and one engineer) and several studentships and apprenticeships. The new labs and equipment are available to all Quantum Material Platform Grant CoIs, not only for superconductivity research, but also to further the broader aims of the Grant. |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between physics and materials involving the superconductivity, cryogenics and instrumentation industrial sectors. The CfAS labs have just been completed, so there is no publication output to report yet. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Centre for Applied Superconductivity (CfAS) |
| Organisation | Rutherford Appleton Laboratory |
| Department | High Power Targets Group |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The Centre for Applied Superconductivity is a joint project between the Materials Department and the Physics Department of the University of Oxford and the local industrial partners and research centres with interests in future applications of superconducting materials. Our Centre aims to pursue projects that can lead to future technologies and lead to the discovery of novel superconducting materials. The Oxford Quantum Materials Platform Grant team is providing equipment and critical expertise to the Centre, both in the measurement of superconducting cables and joints and in fundamental aspects of superconducting research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | CfAS has funded new laboratories in both Physics and Materials Departments and new growth and characterisation equipment, as well as two support staff (one technician and one engineer) and several studentships and apprenticeships. The new labs and equipment are available to all Quantum Material Platform Grant CoIs, not only for superconductivity research, but also to further the broader aims of the Grant. |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between physics and materials involving the superconductivity, cryogenics and instrumentation industrial sectors. The CfAS labs have just been completed, so there is no publication output to report yet. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Centre for Applied Superconductivity (CfAS) |
| Organisation | Siemens AG |
| Department | Siemens Magnet Technology |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The Centre for Applied Superconductivity is a joint project between the Materials Department and the Physics Department of the University of Oxford and the local industrial partners and research centres with interests in future applications of superconducting materials. Our Centre aims to pursue projects that can lead to future technologies and lead to the discovery of novel superconducting materials. The Oxford Quantum Materials Platform Grant team is providing equipment and critical expertise to the Centre, both in the measurement of superconducting cables and joints and in fundamental aspects of superconducting research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | CfAS has funded new laboratories in both Physics and Materials Departments and new growth and characterisation equipment, as well as two support staff (one technician and one engineer) and several studentships and apprenticeships. The new labs and equipment are available to all Quantum Material Platform Grant CoIs, not only for superconductivity research, but also to further the broader aims of the Grant. |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between physics and materials involving the superconductivity, cryogenics and instrumentation industrial sectors. The CfAS labs have just been completed, so there is no publication output to report yet. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Centre for Applied Superconductivity (CfAS) |
| Organisation | Tokamak Solutions |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The Centre for Applied Superconductivity is a joint project between the Materials Department and the Physics Department of the University of Oxford and the local industrial partners and research centres with interests in future applications of superconducting materials. Our Centre aims to pursue projects that can lead to future technologies and lead to the discovery of novel superconducting materials. The Oxford Quantum Materials Platform Grant team is providing equipment and critical expertise to the Centre, both in the measurement of superconducting cables and joints and in fundamental aspects of superconducting research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | CfAS has funded new laboratories in both Physics and Materials Departments and new growth and characterisation equipment, as well as two support staff (one technician and one engineer) and several studentships and apprenticeships. The new labs and equipment are available to all Quantum Material Platform Grant CoIs, not only for superconductivity research, but also to further the broader aims of the Grant. |
| Impact | This is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between physics and materials involving the superconductivity, cryogenics and instrumentation industrial sectors. The CfAS labs have just been completed, so there is no publication output to report yet. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | IoP Beijing |
| Organisation | Chinese Academy of Sciences |
| Department | Institute of Physics |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Experimental measurements by neutron and x-ray scattering |
| Collaborator Contribution | Supply of high quality single crystals |
| Impact | A growing list of publications |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | University of Cambridge, Prof C P Grey |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Preparation of new compounds for investigation as batteries (e.g CeSO / LiCeSO |
| Collaborator Contribution | Grey group carried out electrochemistry and in situ X-ray diffraction together with NMR spectroscopy to measure LiCeSO |
| Impact | Publication in Inorganic Chemistry on LiCeSO and CeSO - see publication list |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | 2018 Quantum Materials Public Lecture - What are quantum materials? - Prof Andrew Boothroyd |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The inaugural Quantum Materials Public Lecture was held in 2018, and timed to coincide with the Oxford Quantum Materials Symposium. The lecture, entitled 'What are quantum materials?' was delivered by Prof Andrew Boothroyd. The audience demonstrated through before-and-after questionnaires that they felt they understood more about quantum materials after the lecture. The lecture was also filmed and put on the Quantum Materials YouTube channel and has been watched by over 1300 people (March 2020). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | A public lecture - Rust to Riches, the future of green computing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a public lecture to illustrate results recently published in the journal Nature. The lecture was recorded and published in our YpuTube channel. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Crystals and Cryogens' talk at the Oxford Physics Masterclass |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | A demonstration lecture that showed off some of our flashier experiments while bringing to light some research in a fun and easily-accessible format. The event was for Y12 students who are thinking about applying to Oxford Physics. This talk showcased the QM group to potential students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Crystals installation - ATOM science festival 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A team of Quantum Materials scientists with the outreach officer took over the Abingdon Community FreeSpace (community shop) for ATOM, Abingdon's science festival, with an installation about crystals. As well as small models, crystals and demonstrations, over the course of two days, the participants created a giant 3D model of iron selenide (a superconductor we work on) that filled the shop, by adding an atom in the right place in the crystal structure to make the crystal "grow". Participants showed a change in the language they used to talk about crystals having taken part. We were also asked to reconstruct the model for the Oxfordshire Artworks exhibition in the physics department. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Crystals poster competition - primary schools |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Department of Physics runs an annual poster competition for primary school children and we provided the content in 2018. The topic was 'crystals'. While the competition was running, we produced a series of videos about crystals. As the prize, we arranged a visit to the ISIS neutron source, which is where the Quantum Materials group often do experimental work. 16 groups from local schools entered the competition. The winners and their families (totalling 16 people) visited ISIS for a tour and prize-giving ceremony. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/research/quantum-materials/group-activities/outreach/schools-poster-co... |
| Description | Curiosity Carnival - Magnetism short talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | As part of the university's Curiosity Carnival, the Quantum Materials Outreach Officer took part in the 'Speakers' Corner', giving short talks to passers by about magnetism. The purpose was to raise the profile of research related to quantum materials by making it more visible. The audience was very varied but engaged with the talk, asking and answering questions. The comments received after the talks were positive, including "My children loved it, it was great to see a girl making physics cool!". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Evening of Quantum Discovery |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An evening event for interested public, featuring lectures, tours of laboratories and a hands-on science fair all about "quantum"-related research. The event was organised as a collaboration between the Quantum Materials group and the Networked Quantum Information Technologies group. One of the three lectures was given by Professor Andrew Boothroyd, and another was given by DPhil student Fran Kirschner. Members of the Quantum Materials group ran lab tours and stalls. The purpose of the event was to showcase the exciting research that happens in our group in a way that was accessible to and interesting for people with little or no understanding of quantum physics, as well as to improve general understanding of quantum physics. 88% of those who responded to the feedback survey said that their understanding of quantum physics had improved "a lot" or "a little" from this event, and 84% said they were inspired to learn more about quantum physics. (Survey had 59 respondents, representing 40% of attendees.) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.nqit.ox.ac.uk/news/evening-quantum-discovery |
| Description | Levitate! |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Levitate! is a workshop to introduce the key ideas of superconductivity. It is usually given to a group of around 20 students from a school. It is a mix of front-of-class presentations and demonstrations together with hands-on experiments for the participants. Students from schools love this workshop and are fascinated by the demonstrations of superconductors and low temperature behaviour of materials. They always ask lots of questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017 |
| URL | http://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/research/quantum-materials/group-activities/outreach |
| Description | Levitate! at Marie Curious 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Marie Curious' is a day-long event held in the Physics Department for girls aged 11-14 to encourage them to study STEM subjects. We ran the 'Levitate!' workshop as part of this. The girls engaged well in the workshop and we received good written feedback, with some saying this was their favourite part of the day. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Levitate! workshop - 2018 Oxford Physics & Materials Day for Y12s |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Oxford Physics and Materials Days provide an opportunity for students from target schools to engage with research and teaching at the university. The 'Levitate!' workshop provided a chance for us to share our superconductors research with them in an interactive and engaging way. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Levitate! workshop - 2019 Oxford Physics & Materials Day for Y12s |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Oxford Physics and Materials Days provide an opportunity for students from target schools to engage with research and teaching at the university. The 'Levitate!' workshop provided a chance for us to share our superconductors research with them in an interactive and engaging way. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Levitate! workshop - KS3 Challenge Day at Headington School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The "Levitate" workshop introduces superconductors and our research on them to school children (ages 11-14). The workshop was presented by a team to three sets of school children. Their responses demonstrated that they understood the material presented. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Levitate! workshop - Marie Curious 2020 (girls in STEM) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Marie Curious' is a day-long event held in the Physics Department for girls aged 11-14 to encourage them to study STEM subjects. We ran the 'Levitate!' workshop as part of this. The girls engaged well in the workshop and we received good written feedback, with some saying this was their favourite part of the day. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/events/2020/02/15/marie-curious-2020 |
| Description | Levitate! workshop - school visit (arranged by Somerville College) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | School group of ~20 Y12 students from Reach Academy visiting Somerville college for the day. Provided a subject session for the group (Levitate workshop). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Magnetism stall at Harwell Family Fun Day 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Quantum Materials Colouring Stall was at an open-air family fun day, which included some science stalls. The audience was mostly families. The stall featured hands-on explorations of magnetism including games about magnetic monopoles. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Magnetism stall at Southwold Primary School Science Fair |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Southwold Primary School held a school science exhibition/fair with several stalls set up for the children to explore. Each year group had about 15 mins in the hall, and at the end of the day they could bring their parents in with them to show them around. We had a stall with demonstrations about magnetism. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Magnetism workshop for Bayards Hill Primary School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The activity was a hands-on workshop with primary school children as part of British Science Week. The workshop explored magnetism in many forms including exotic magnetism. The students enjoyed it and said they learned something new. We had good feedback from the teachers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Magnetism workshop for Oxfordshire Technicians Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | This workshop was for science technicians to showcase some of our demonstrations that highlight our research (and also thereby explaining that research). This means it could be incorporated into teaching in local schools. The workshop was very much appreciated by those in attendance - the verbal feedback was excellent and has been repeated since by technicians we have met with. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic - 2018 Roadshow |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The 'Magnets Fantastic' show was delivered by the Outreach Officer and some students to whole year groups of pupils at a local target school. The purpose was to reach all pupils including those would not usually seek out science engagement activities and present some of the science around our research in a fun and interactive way. The show was well-received by students; evaluation forms were completed that fed into a bigger evaluation of the show as a whole. The larger evaluation demonstrated that more than 3/4 of participants felt they knew more about magnetism having seen the show. According to these, 75.5% of students agreed that they understood more about magnetism having seen the show. This demonstrates that the show was largely successful in increasing understanding of magnetism among KS3 pupils. Only 16 respondents (2.5%) had nothing positive to say about the show or magnetism. This suggests the show was broadly enjoyed by pupils, particularly given that most (586) responses were from audiences that had not individually opted in to seeing the show, but were whole classes or year groups. Comments have included: "I had never seen anything like it before!", "The experiments were really good because they were really interactive and I learned a lot from them.", "I loved it, it was really great." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic - Department Christmas Lectures |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | A new interactive demonstration lecture / show was created by the Quantum Materials Outreach Officer, Kathryn Boast. Called "Magnets Fantastic",iIt showcases magnetism from a very basic starting point through to demonstrations of paramagnetism, antiferromagnetism and diamagnetism, including creating strong magnetic fields and the levitation of superconductors. The show was piloted to a class of local schoolchildren before being presented as the Department of Physics Family Christmas Lectures. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic - OUMNH Christmas Lectures 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The 'Magnets Fantastic' show was delivered to selected school groups as part of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History Christmas Lectures. The purpose was to reach a wide range of pupils from schools we do not usually visit and present some of the science around our research in a fun and interactive way. The show was well-received by students, with some staying afterwards to ask extra questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic - small scale, for Lady Nuffield Home |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The "Magnets Fantastic" interactive science show about magnetism including aspects of our research was presented on a small scale to residents of a nursing home. The purpose was to open the department's research up to a new community in the city that we do not currently serve with outreach and public engagement. The show was well received by the audience and the organiser at the home was very enthusiastic for our return with more content. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic Roadshow |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The 'Magnets Fantastic' show was delivered by the Outreach Officer and some students to whole year groups of pupils at a local target school. The purpose was to reach all pupils including those would not usually seek out science engagement activities and present some of the science around our research in a fun and interactive way. The show was well-received by students; evaluation forms were completed that fed into a bigger evaluation of the show as a whole. The larger evaluation demonstrated that more than 3/4 of participants felt they knew more about magnetism having seen the show. According to these, 75.5% of students agreed that they understood more about magnetism having seen the show. This demonstrates that the show was largely successful in increasing understanding of magnetism among KS3 pupils. Only 16 respondents (2.5%) had nothing positive to say about the show or magnetism. This suggests the show was broadly enjoyed by pupils, particularly given that most (586) responses were from audiences that had not individually opted in to seeing the show, but were whole classes or year groups. Comments have included: "I had never seen anything like it before!", "The experiments were really good because they were really interactive and I learned a lot from them.", "I loved it, it was really great." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/research/quantum-materials/group-activities/outreach/magnets-fantastic |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic at Marie Curious 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Marie Curious' is a day-long event held in the Physics Department for girls aged 11-14 to encourage them to study STEM subjects. We ran the 'Levitate!' workshop as part of this. The girls engaged well in the workshop and we received good written feedback, with some saying this was their favourite part of the day. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic for Stimulating Physics Network (teachers) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Magnets Fantastic show was presented in a slightly different format for a group of teachers as part of the Institute of Physics' 'Stimulating Physics Network' course. The teachers were very enthusiastic, asking lots of very engaged questions. They also reached out after the event to ask further questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic plus stalls at Abingdon Science Partnership Primary Science Fair |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The "Magnets Fantastic" interactive science show about magnetism including aspects of our research was presented as part of the 'Abingdon Science Partnership Primary Science Fair". We also presented two stalls about quantum materials and their properties. The goal was to inspire the children to do projects on the topic of "smart materials". In the feedback session at the end of the day, the majority of the comments were about quantum materials, so we clearly had a big impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic show - ATOM science festival 2018 Grand Finale |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The "Magnets Fantastic" interactive science show about magnetism including aspects of our research was presented as the grand finale of the 2018 ATOM science festival. Audience feedback was very positive. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic show - Making Materials Matter course |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The "Magnets Fantastic" interactive science show about magnetism including aspects of our research was presented as part of the 'Making Materials Matter' repeat intervention by Oxford Materials to school groups from around the country. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic talk - live in the department and filmed |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The "Magnets Fantastic" interactive science show about magnetism including aspects of our research was presented in the department and filmed, being put on YouTube. The purpose is to not only help the show to reach a wider audience, but also to make it available for training of other presenters of the show. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzewphlxfc4 |
| Description | Magnets Fantastic' at OUMNH Christmas Lectures 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The 'Magnets Fantastic' show was delivered to selected school groups as part of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History Christmas Lectures. The purpose was to reach a wide range of pupils from schools we do not usually visit and present some of the science around our research in a fun and interactive way. The show was well-received by students, with some staying afterwards to ask extra questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Magnets activities - Barton Community Centre Holiday Club |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The QM Outreach Officer ran activities about magnets for the Barton community centre school holiday club. This included a brief introduction to magnets (with hands on activities) and how they work and making magnetic slime. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Mini Curiosity Carnival - Magnetic Cabaret |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Quantum Materials group had a stall about magnetism at the Mini Curiosity Carnival - a science fair at the Templars Square Shopping Centre. This featured hands-on, interactive demonstrations of magnetism suitable for all ages, from bar magnets to homopolar motors and magnetic slime. The event was held in an area typically associated with low uptake of engagement opportunities, to encourage attendance at the main Curiosity Carnival event that followed. Many passers by stayed at the stall and asked questions about the demonstrations, including families with children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.templarssquare.com/events/can-you-turn-orange-into-grapefruit-curiosity-carnival/ |
| Description | Monopole Mysteries workshop at ATOM science festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The workshops explores the dipole nature of magnets and the non-existence of monopoles before showing how emergent monopoles can be created in magnetic materials with certain structures. It is a hands-on workshop designed to highlight our research in this area to both young children and their parents / carers. The workshop was well received and we have been invited to return to the ATOM festival event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Oxford Academy Summer School - Magnetism & Superconductors talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Quantum Materials Outreach Officer, Kathryn Boast, gave an interactive talk about magnetism and superconductors as part of the Oxford Academy Summer School, for gifted and talented students in Year 7 at the Oxford Academy. The students were keen to take part in the activities, and reported learning about cooling and superconductors. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Oxplore - QM and the future |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | School students aged 12-16 from around the country were invited to Oxford University for the launch of 'Oxplore'. The day included some taster sessions around the topic of 'Would you want to live forever?', and one of these was given by the Quantum Materials Outreach Officer. The purpose of the activity was to showcase some of the future possibilities that could result from quantum materials research, and so demonstrate its importance and applicability outside academia. The session focussed on what the near and distant future might look like with technologies developed from quantum materials. The students were engaged and asked questions during the session. The helpers reported that the students were talking at lunchtime about the demonstrations the had seen in the quantum materials session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | PTI talks on magnetism |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A version of the 'Magnets Fantastic' talk was given for groups of teachers through the charity PTI. This explained magnetism at a level beyond that encountered in school, integrating our research into what they already know. The sessions were very well received with excellent feedback. We have been invited to undertake further engagements. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
| Description | Physics: From the lab into your life - Superconductors stall - 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The physics department runs this event annually to showcase how physics research impacts everyday life. We had a stall about superconductors, focussing on the technological possibilities that they could give us. The feedback for the event overall mentioned the stall as particularly good, and we were constantly inundated with people asking questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Physics: Lab to Life - Superconductors stall |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The physics department runs this event annually to showcase how physics research impacts everyday life. We had a stall about superconductors, focussing on the technological possibilities that they could give us. The feedback for the event overall mentioned the stall as particularly good, and we were constantly inundated with people asking questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/news/2019/11/21/from-lab-to-life |
| Description | Public lecture entitlted: Superconductors: Miracle Materials |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was an open lecture to which the general public were invited. The lecture was filmed and uploaded to YouTube. There were about 60 people in the live audience, and the YouTube video has been viewed 1030 times (Feb 2020). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzzchLXdGmE&t=37s |
| Description | QM Oxford Twitter account |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Outreach Officer set up a Twitter account in order to provide a platform and identity for the group's online presence. The account mixes outreach activities with sharing the successes of the group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019,2020 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/QM_Oxford |
| Description | Quantum 101 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Quantum Materials Outreach Officer was key in organising a day about quantum physics, ensuring there was plenty of QM input and providing the "Levitate!" workshop about superconductors on the day. The goal was to highlight our research and correct misconceptions about quantum physics in school children at target schools. This was assessed through a questionnaire that judged the day as a whole. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Quantum Materials Colouring Book |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Outreach Officer designed and created a colouring book based on a number of areas of the group's research. In addition to line illustrations, short explanations guide readers through the topics. The book is a hit with both children and adults. In addition to forming the basis of some of our outreach activities, it has also been popular with teachers and has been used in science mindfulness colouring clubs. It even caught the eye of a physics student who then chose to become a researcher in the group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| URL | https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/page/2018/12/17/qmcb-firstprintrun-44120.pdf |
| Description | Quantum Materials Colouring Book lesson at Our Lady Abingdon's School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Quantum Materials Colouring Book was turned into a lesson at a local school. This was largely intended to judge the appropriateness of the colouring book on this audience, as it had not been trialled on young children. It was found to be very successful as they picked up many of the key messages and plenty of the subtleties. This was judged by their verbal responses in the lessons and in worksheets they filled out. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Quantum Materials Colouring Stall at Harwell Family Fun Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Quantum Materials Colouring Stall was at an open-air family fun day, which included some science stalls. The audience was mostly families. The stall featured an opportunity to colour in pages from the "Quantum Materials Colouring Book" and to try demonstrations that illustrate the research featured therein. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | School visits to the department - Superconductors topics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | School groups have visited the department and the Quantum Materials Outreach Officer has given a workshop on superconductors. Students reported more knowledge of superconductors and their uses following the talk. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018 |
| Description | Social Media Takeover - Experiment at Diamond |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | For two days, the Quantum Materials Outreach Officer, Kathryn Boast, took over the Department of Physics social media channels, particular the Twitter and Instagram accounts. The posts followed the progress of an experiment being undertaken at Diamond Light Source by one of the DPhil students in the Quantum Materials group. The intended purpose was to showcase what it is like to be a researcher in quantum materials, and shed light on how the research is done. Over the two days, the series of Tweets achieved almost 30,000 impressions and over 1,000 engagements (which include likes, retweets, replies and clicks). This was the first time this had been tried by the Department, and the success of it means they are keen to do it again with another researcher. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://storify.com/Kathryn_EB/on-a-quantum-materials-experiment |
| Description | Stargazing - 'Magnets in Space' talk, Superconductors stall |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Stargazing Oxford' is a huge department-wide event with an audience of over 1200. We ran a stall in the "science cafe" about superconductors to showcase the work we do and raise the profile of quantum materials work in the public eye. We also gave a short talk on 'Magnets in Space' to connect what we were doing to the theme of the day. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Stargazing - Superconductors Stall |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Oxford's Department of Physics holds a 'Stargazing Oxford' day every year, which often has around 1,000 visitors. In 2018, the Quantum Materials group had a stall in the 'Science Cafe' area for the first time. The purpose was to showcase a different area of physics (quantum materials / condensed matter physics) that is often less well known to children by including it in an event focussed on astrophysics and astronomy. The Quantum Materials group demonstrated levitating superconductors and "MagLev" trains, alongside which were some superconducting chips used in telescopes. Young children and adults alike were captivated by the levitating superconductor, and many were interested in understanding how superconductivity works. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Stimulating Physics Network talk on Magnetism |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A talk on magnetism for a group of physics teachers who are not physics specialists, which ranged from basic magnetism and electromagnetism to the research undertaken in the Quantum Materials group on high magnetic fields and superconductors. This talk was presented by Kathryn Boast, the Quantum Materials Outreach Officer. The talk was well received, with teachers asking questions and engaging with the material. Feedback included: "The electromagnetism lecture and demonstration that followed, was probably one the very best I have seen and as a teacher I am totally inspired to send you the very best physicists, thinkers and problem solvers, from quite meagre backgrounds. If I am gushing with passion about seeing levitation of superconductors and friction-less train sets, then so will my students be." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Superconductors stall at Stargazing 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Stargazing Oxford' is a huge department-wide event with an audience of over 1200. We ran a stall in the "science cafe" about superconductors to showcase the work we do and raise the profile of quantum materials work in the public eye. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Superconductors stall at university open days |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | As part of the department's Open Days for prospective students, we ran a stall for two days showcasing our research into superconductors and their properties. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Superconductors talk - Andrew Princep - Cherwell school |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Dr Andrew Princep gave a talk on his research into superconductors to the school A level science club. We have since been invited back to give more talks. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | The 2020 Quantum Materials Public Lecture - Prof Stephen Blundell - The Many Universes of Quantum Materials |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The 2020 Quantum Materials Public Lecture (the second such lecture) was an opportunity for Prof Stephen Blundell to showcase quantum materials research, presenting his talk "The Many Worlds of Quantum Materials". The lecture was also filmed and put on the QM Oxford YouTube channel. The audience asked plenty of questions at the end. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | UNIQ summer school workshop - High Magnetic Fields in Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The UNIQ Summer School is the university's leading access scheme to encourage and support applicants from under-represented backgrounds. As part of this week of activities in the department, we gave an interactive talk about high magnetic fields in our research, including pulsed field magnets. The participants did their own research on the topic as a result. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | YouTube series on: crystals, magnetism, "Meet the Researchers" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | (1) A miniseries of videos on magnetism was created by the outreach officer, to complement the Magnets Fantastic show. (2) A series of videos on crystals was created to complement the poster competition for schools on crystals. (3) A series of mini-interviews titled 'Meet the Researchers' to introduce the group and showcase what scientists do in and beyond their work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019,2020 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtZ4lUlasLqmulrMXLNMXhw/ |