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Broschüre EMFL English

10 »High-temperature superconductivity is widely regarded as one of the great mysteries of physics and a field of research with immense technological potential in areas as varied as energy transport, communication, and medicine. The cuprate high-temperature super- conductors are the focus of our research programme. To better understand their underlying normal state, we suppress supercon- ductivity and reveal the normal state in our specimens by exposing them to a high magnetic field. Because exceptionally high magnetic fields on the order of tens of teslas are necessary for cuprate ma- terials, the experiments have to be performed at designated high field facilities. The scientific journal Physics recently remarked on the fact that  the most important breakthrough [on cuprate super- conductivity] was the detection of definitive quantum oscillations in high magnetic fields in 2007 by Taillefer’s group   . Without the high magnetic fields available at the Toulouse site, this breakthrough would not have been possible. High magnetic fields provide a unique window into the normal state of high-temperature superconductors. There is no way around it, only high fields can do this. And as new and more sensitive high field experiments are under way, this will continue to be the case for years to come. Access to high field facilities through the EMFL network will remain essential to our field of research. We chose the Toulouse and Grenoble high field laboratories because they are world-class facilities that provide some of the most intense, quiet, and reliable magnets available for research in condensed matter physics. Over the last decade, we’ve been regular visitors at both sites, working closely with our local hosts. In this respect, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) represents a direct bridge between the Canadian commu- nity and the European Magnetic Field Laboratory.« Prof Louis Taillefer & Dr Nicolas Doiron-Leyraud Département de Physique, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada & Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Pulsed or continuous? Two of the EMFL labs – Toulouse and Dresden – specialise in pulsed magnetic fields, meaning they generate huge magnetic fields of up to about 100 teslas using non-destructive magnets for a short period of time – on the order of tens of milliseconds. At the Toulouse site, even higher magnetic fields, up to 180 teslas, are generated by semi-destructive magnets (the coil but not the sample is des- troyed during the pulse) within microseconds. Of course, these magnets are used for measure- ments that can be performed very quickly. The continuous field magnets at the Grenoble and Nijmegen EMFL sites are capable of maintaining a constant max- imum field (currently up to 35 teslas and, in a few years, up to 45 teslas), which makes these magnets ideal for measurements that require a longer time scale. The coils can be used for thou- sands of hours before they need to be replaced.

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