MRI: Track 3 Acquisition of Helium Recovery Equipment for Quantum Materials Research and NMR Facilities at UT Austin

Helium is a strictly nonrenewable and irreplaceable resource, whose price and availability are tied to the global oil industry and undergo turbulent fluctuations in recent years. On the other hand, liquid helium cooling is indispensable for investigating quantum matter at temperatures close to absolute zero and studying chemical reactions by nuclear magnetic resonance. The helium recovery system in this Major Research Instrumentation project recaptures the exhaust helium gas from low-temperature instruments and recondense it in a local facility. The equipment establishes helium recycling practice and enables the continuation of many frontier research activities in physics, chemistry, and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. The availability of liquid helium also enhances the educational experience of physics and chemistry undergraduates during summer research and attracts underrepresented minority students to UT Austin through the American Physics Society Bridge program. The helium liquefier has a liquefaction rate that is sufficient to cover the usage on the entire University of Texas at Austin campus. The gas-collection system accepts recycled helium gas from the nuclear magnetic resonance facility. The combination of helium recovery and liquefaction improves the reliability of liquid helium cooling and reduces the cost for researchers. Research directions on quantum materials include the low-temperature microscopy of topological phases, optical studies of excited states, tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of correlated insulators, solid-state nuclear resonance on superconducting nickelates, and cryogenic nonlinear terahertz spectroscopy on collective modes. Research using the nuclear magnetic resonance facility allows scientists to characterize molecules in solution and solid phases for unambiguous structural assignment, monitor the rate of reactions, study the secondary structure of large molecules, and observe the interaction between molecules. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.