Research

At temperatures near absolute zero, new collective phenomena emerge, and fundamental questions can be posed about symmetry, universality, and the transition from the classical to the quantum sphere. We use helium dilution refrigerator techniques to explore quantum magnets and glasses with connections both to quantum phase transitions and to the encoding of information, metal-insulator transitions with choreographed charge and spin degrees of freedom, exotic superconductivity, disordered materials generated by self assembly or by external means, new magnetoresistive compounds, and new approaches to high-density magnetic storage. MilliKelvin temperatures often are combined with symmetry-breaking fields (such as uniaxial stress or magnetic fields), diamond anvil cell pressures, and x-ray and neutron scattering to help constrain theory on fundamental grounds. These disparate topics are united by the theme of the interplay of correlation effects and disorder and by the issue of how macroscopic order can emerge from microscopic disorder.