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Cooperative Research Programs:
At present, the Walther-Meißner-Institute is involved in the following cooperative research programs of the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal Government, and the EU FP7 program:
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General Research Focus of WMI:
The research activities of the Walther-Meißner-Institute are focused on low
temperature solid-state and condensed matter physics. The
research program is devoted to both fundamental and applied
research and also addresses materials science, thin film and
nanotechnology aspects. With respect to basic research the main focus of
the WMI is on
- superconductivity and superfluidity,
- magnetism, spin transport,
and spin caloritronics,
- quantum phenomena in mesoscopic systems and nanostructures,
- and the general properties of metallic systems at low and very low temperatures.
The WMI also conducts applied research in the fields of
- solid-state quantum information processing systems,
- superconducting and spintronic devices,
- oxide electronics,
- multi-functional and multiferroic materials,
- and the development of low and ultra low temperature systems and techniques.
With respect to materials science, thin film and nanotechnology the research program is focused on
- the synthesis of superconducting and magnetic materials,,
- the single crystal growth of oxide materials,
- the thin film technology of complex oxide heterostructures including multi-functional
and multiferroic material systems,
- the fabrication of superconducting, magnetic, and hybrid nanostructures,
- and the growth of self-organized molecular ad-layers.
The WMI also develops and operates systems and techniques for low and
ultra-low temperature experiments. A recent development are dry mK-systems
that can be operated without liquid helium by using a pulse-tube refrigerator
for precooling. Meanwhile, these systems have been successfully commercialized
by the company VeriCold Technologies GmbH at Ismaning, Germany, which meanwhile has been acquired by Oxford Instruments. As further
typical examples we mention a nuclear demagnetization cryostat for temperature
down to below 100µK, or very flexible dilution refrigerator inserts for
temperatures down to about 20mK fitting into a 2inch bore. These systems
have been engineered and fabricated at the WMI. Within the last years, several
dilution refrigerators have been provided to other research groups for various
low temperature experiments. The WMI also operates a helium liquifier with a
capacity of more than 150.000 liters per year and supplies both Munich
universities with liquid helium. To optimize the transfer of liquid helium into
transport containers the WMI has developed a pumping system for liquid helium
that is commercialized in collaboration with a company. |
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