Equipment: MRI: Track 3 Acquisition of Helium Recovery Equipment: Retrofitting Physical Property Measurement System for Quantum Materials Research

The acquisition of the Quantum Design P960 Helium Reliquefier System by Missouri S&T, in collaboration with the University of Missouri Columbia and Washington University, significantly upgrades the existing Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS) that requires liquid helium for operation. This system significantly mitigates the regional challenges of securing liquid helium, crucial for advanced studies across a spectrum of fields including quantum materials, composite materials, and battery materials. It also ensures a steady supply by recapturing and recondensing helium gas during cryogenic experiments. As a result, it reduces operational costs and supports ongoing scientific endeavors. Additionally, the enhanced PPMS serves as a vital educational tool, demonstrating physical property measurements to K-12 and college students. This sustainable approach to resource management highlights the dedication of researchers to conserving critical scientific resources, ensuring ongoing and uninterrupted research and educational activities. The PPMS, operating within a temperature range of 2 to 400 K and in magnetic fields up to 9 T, supports a broad array of research crucial for scientific and technological advancements. This includes exploring anomalous Hall effects in topological superconductors essential for quantum computing, investigating magneto-transport in charge-doped Mott insulators, and identifying new materials like spin ice that may revolutionize magnetic semiconductor technologies. Studies utilizing the enhanced PPMS also focus on understanding dipole-dipole interactions in Azines, examining thermal behavior in diboride ceramics to uncover phonon and electron dynamics, and conducting detailed assessments of electrode materials to enhance thin film and doping techniques in battery research. These efforts collectively contribute to a deeper understanding of material properties and their applications in various technology domains. 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.