Physics at Florida State University |

Condensed Matter Experimental Physics

Condensed matter physics is the study of the physical arrangement and concommitant properties of materials in their condensed phases (liquids, liquid crystals, solids). Many of these experiments can only be done at extreme conditions. Research tools at Florida State University allow the synthesis of highly ordered materials with prop-erties that may be described by models in one or two dimensions, and permit investigation over large temperature (mK to ~1000K), magnetic field (approaching 100 Tesla), and pressure (up to 106 pascals) ranges. This diversity of conditions provides exciting possibilities for experimental studies that are unavailable in this combination at any other department or university. Because of the strong ties to the Center for Materials Research and Technology (MARTECH) and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL), the experimental con-densed matter physics group at the Florida State University is able to utilize a number of specialized research tools to investigate many new materials with novel structural, chemical, magnetic, and/or optical properties.

Important experimental research areas in condensed matter physics at FSU include:

Single crystal growth and study of the magnetic and structural ordering of heavy fermion materials and superconductors, with a special emphasis on doped perovskites.
Synthesis and study of quasi-one- and quasi-two- dimensional organic conductors, materials that show spin density wave states and interesting cyclotron resonance behavior in high magnetic fields.
Preparation by molecular beam epitaxy, laser ablation, and rf sputtering of thin films and modulated structures of magnetic ferrites and of rare-earth hard magnets. These materials show strong spin ordering anisotropy and interlayer spin coupling.
Preparation and characterization of magnetic nanoparticles and one dimensional wires. Preparation techniques include STM writing and photo- and electron-beam lithography.
Use of a unique helium atom scattering facility to study the structural ordering and surface phonon dynamics of insulating surfaces and thin films including alkali halides, transition metal oxides, and even adsorbed molecular hydrogen and helium films.
Studies of order and structure in complex fluid systems involving macromolecules, including DNA, tobacco mosaic virus, micellar liquid crystals, and polymers.
Infrared and optical studies of a wide variety of materials including semiconducting-to-metallic transitions in modified Huesler alloys.

Condensed matter physicists at Florida State University have strong collaborations with theorists and experimentalists both here and elsewhere. There is a strong interaction with chemists and biologists at FSU, both through MARTECH, and through the NHMFL magnetic resonance programs. Many of the experimental problems deal with electron correlations in magnetic or superconducting materials and with problems of reduced dimensionality, providing natural areas of overlap with the FSU condensed matter theoretical physics group.