After September 30, 1995, the Laboratory will be called the Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory (FBML).
The large research program in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) will continue at the Laboratory, funded by the NIH, and the FBML is initiating a major expansion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activities.
The Laboratory submitted a proposal to the NSF for its continued funding as a Collaborative Research Laboratory in which up to seven Collaborative Research Groups (CRG) would use the magnet facilities on a long term basis. That would allow the setting up of complex experiments requiring access to magnets for long periods of time, in some cases, months. Such a mode of operation is not possible at a national facility, such as the new National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) at Tallahassee. That proposal has been reviewed and received a varied marking. The NSF has recommended that it be resubmitted as a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). Work on resubmission is underway.
The in-house construction of a 750 megahertz (MHz) NMR magnet is in abeyance owing to termination of funding by the sponsor, Kobe Steel Ltd.. However, a proposal has been submitted to the NIH to complete the magnet and upgrade it to 800 MHz.
During this reporting period the center piece of the facility, the 35 T Hybrid magnet, has been operated regularly for users. The magnet can provide either 35 T in a 33 mm bore at room temperature or up to 22 T in a 150 mm bore. In the latter configuration it has been used to generate a field of 24 T using a High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) coil. This is a world record for field produced with HTS.
The magnets at the FBNML cannot be transferred to the NHMFL, because they are neither electrically nor hydraulically compatible. This limitation applies to the world record setting hybrid magnets. It is therefore hoped that the NSF will be persuaded to provide some continuation funding to ensure that the highest fields and the very wide range of features available at FBML will continue to be available to researchers. The CRG approach to a continuing Laboratory is intended to meet the needs of researchers whilst complementing, not competing with, the facilities at the NHMFL.
A commercial 750 MHz magnet has been installed in Center for Magnetic Resonance (CMR) and has been supplying excellent spectra. The world class CMR facility for high resolution NMR, which was started in 1974, has continuous funding through 1999 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Laboratory is actively pursuing funding to create and operate a Chemistry Research Facility for Very High Field NMR in collaboration with the Harvard Medical School. Plans are to acquire a second commercial 750 MHz system.
There are also plans for a major expansion of MRI activities involving the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST). HST is in the process of recruiting two senior faculty members in the area of functional MRI, and the FBNML Director is working closely with HST faculty toward the successful recruitment of renowned individuals in this field.
Plans are continuing for a major expansion of MRI activities involving the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST). HST is in the process of recruiting two senior faculty members in the area of functional MRI, and the FBNML Director is working closely with HST faculty toward the successful recruitment of renowned individuals in this field.
On the upper level, the Laboratory contributes to graduate education through thesis research, supervised by senior staff or faculty who conduct their research in the Laboratory. The Laboratory also plays a strong role in educating graduate students from other universities such as Princeton, Brandeis, Tufts, and Northeastern University. Currently, there are thirty-one graduate students, twenty-seven of whom attend MIT, engaged in active research at the Laboratory.
Hidekazu Okamura
"Interband Spectroscopies of Wide Parabolic GaAs/AlGaAs Quantum Wells in
High Magnetic Fields"
Ph.D., Department of Physics, Northeastern University, April, 1995
The Orloff Prize is given annually to an undergraduate who has demonstrated outstanding ability and creativity in research in or related to physics. This year, Mr. Dexter M.J. Mootoo, a senior in Mechanical Engineering, was one of two recipients. Mr. Mootoo is conducting his research with Dr. Jagadeesh Moodera in the transport studies of half-metallic ferromagnets.
Professor Robert G. Griffin
John E.C.Williams
MIT Reports to the President 1994-95