Student Projects

Students who are interested in the physics of Hard Condensed Matter are most welcome to complete their research training for the

Bachelor project (12 EC)
Short master research project (6-12 EC)
Master research project (48-54 EC)

in the research group Electronic Structure of Novel Materials.

We investigate the electronic and magnetic structure of novel materials. Research issues predominantly relate to fundamental properties. The programme has a strong experimental component with a solid basis in techniques for measuring thermal, magnetic and magnetotransport properties at very low temperatures and high magnetic fields. We focus on quantum criticality of strongly correlated metals and low-dimensional electron systems. For a popular introduction to quantum criticality see the publication in Nature by Coleman and Schofield.

We search enthusiastic and motivated students to carry out research on the following research issues.

Quantum phase transitions in correlated metals

In this project we study novel phenomena, such as unconventional superconductivity (SC) and the break-down of Fermi liquid behaviour (NFL), that appear at a quantum critical point in correlated metals. The basic idea is that the magnetic transition temperature (T_M) of a  magnetically ordered correlated metal may be tuned to zero temperature as function of a control parameter δ (which may be pressure, doping or magnetic field). The resulting phase diagram is sketched in the figure below. At the quantum critical point a zero-temperature order-disorder phase transition takes place and new physics emerges. We prepare new intermetallic compounds and measure the thermal, magnetic and transport properties at very low temperatures in order to extract the quantum critical behaviour. For a typical research topic see Suppression of ferromagnetism in URhGe doped with Ru.

Students may take part in various shorter and larger projects in the spirit of the research described above.
Do not hesitate to contact dr. A. de Visser.