In a breakthrough for neutron science, scientists used a 30 Tesla pulsed magnet and the powerful pulsed neutron beam at the Spallation Neutron Source to probe the magnetic behavior of the multiferroic material manganese tungstate. (A multiferroic material has both electrical and magnetic properties.) The magnet shatters previous limits for magnetic fields used in neutron experiments; the most powerful magnetic field formerly available was about 10 Telsa. (For comparison, the most powerful magnets encountered in everyday life are well below 1 Telsa.) The magnet, developed at Tohoku University in Japan, delivers a pulse lasting about a millisecond when zapped with an electric current. The sample was chilled before examination to 2 degrees Kelvin, just above absolute zero. At such low temperatures manganese tungstate becomes multiferroic. Multiferroic materials have many potential applications, including uses in magnetic storage devices. The pulsed magnet technique is being developed for use on other instruments at the SNS, which is part of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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