Look Who's at the Lab: Michael Sutherland
In Look Who's at the Lab, we profile some of the hundreds of scientists who visit our lab every year.
Sutherland (right) and graduate student
Swee Goh prepare their sample.
The Basics
The Research
Quick Q & A
Publications
Title: Royal Society Research Fellow, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge
Mag Lab user since: 2008
Number of visits to the lab: One.
Dates of most recent visit: April 17-27, 2008.
Distance traveled: 4,559 miles / 7,337 km (Cambridge, UK to Tallahassee, Florida)
Research Interests:
"I am interested in studying materials in which electrons interact very strongly. Such interactions (or correlations) often give rise to remarkable phenomena and novel states of matter – superconductivity and unconventional magnetism are just two examples. By studying fundamental properties of these systems, such as electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility, scientists are slowly building up an understanding of how electron correlations can lead to new physics."
Web site: http://www-qm.phy.cam.ac.uk/sutherland/
Email: mls41@cam.ac.uk
Title: Initial dHvA Study of Ca2RuO4 at 25 kBar.
Other Participants: Patricia Alireza, postdoc, and Swee Goh, graduate student, both of University of Cambridge
Synopsis: "The material Ca2RuO4 is a special type of electrical insulator. The electrons inside of it are held in place by strong interactions between the electrons themselves, a state of matter known as a Mott insulator. Under very high pressures (greater than 10,000 times atmospheric pressure), this condition is relaxed, and the material becomes a normal metal that conducts electricity rather well. We wish to understand how this happens by studying the behavior of electrons in Ca2RuO4 in strong magnetic fields, as we vary the applied pressure."
Facility: DC Field Facility, Tallahassee
Equipment: 31 tesla magnet, with a 3He cryogenic insert.
Techniques: Measurements of quantum oscillations at high pressures.
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Favorite thing about working at the lab:
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The level of user support is fantastic. As a new user, I have had a lot of assistance from the staff in setting up my experiment and ensuring that everything runs smoothly. I’ve really benefitted from their advice and guidance. |
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Thing you miss most about home when you’re here:
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Proper beer.
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Your proudest science moment:
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Observing quantum oscillations for the first time in a tiny metal oxide crystal in Cambridge – there is something quite profound about watching an inherently quantum mechanical effect come to life on your oscilloscope.
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What keeps you awake at night:
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Global warming, environmental degradation and grant applications.
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The most unscientific thing about you:
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I spent several years as a club DJ in Toronto to help put me through graduate school.
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Your hero:
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Hard to pick just one! Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and physicist Albert Einstein for starters.
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Last book you read:
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America Unchained by Dave Gorman. A humorous account of a British journalist visiting the U.S. and taking a coast-to-coast road trip in a 1970 Ford Torino in search of “Independent America.”
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Parting thoughts on science today:
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There has never been a greater need for trained scientists in all fields. We are facing daunting questions – How will we feed our expanding population? How can we generate clean and renewable energy? How can we use the Earth’s resources in a sustainable way? Scientific research is our best hope of finding answers.
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- High pressure de Haas-van Alphen studies of Sr2RuO4 using an anvil cell
S.K. Goh, P.L. Alireza, PDA Mann, A.-M. Cumberlidge, C. Bergemann, M. Sutherland and Y. Maeno
Current Applied Physics Vol. 8, 304 (2008)
- Bulk evidence for single-gap s-wave superconductivity in the intercalated graphite superconductor C6Yb
Mike Sutherland, Nicolas Doiron-Leyraud, Louis Taillefer, Thomas Weller, Mark Ellerby, S.S. Saxena
Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 067003 (2007).
- Onset of boson mode at superconducting critical point of underdoped YBa2Cu3Oy
Nicolas Doiron-Leyraud, Mike Sutherland, S.Y. Li, Louis Taillefer, Ruixing Liang, D.A. Bonn, W.N. Hardy
Phys. Rev. Lett. 97 207001 (2006).
- Thermal conductivity in the vicinity of the quantum critical endpoint in Sr3Ru2O7
F. Ronning, R.W. Hill, M. Sutherland, D.G. Hawthorn, M.A. Tanatar, J. Paglione, Louis Taillefer, M.J. Graf, R.S. Perry, Y. Maeno, A.P. Mackenzie
Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 067005 (2006)
- Non-vanishing energy scales at the quantum critical point of CeCoIn5
Johnpierre Paglione, M. A. Tanatar, D. G. Hawthorn, F. Ronning, R. W. Hill, M. Sutherland, Louis Taillefer, C. Petrovic
Phys. Rev Lett.. 97, 106606 (2006)
- Delocalized Fermions in Underdoped Cuprate Superconductors
Mike Sutherland, S.Y. Li, D. G. Hawthorn, R.W. Hill, F. Ronning, M.A. Tanatar, J. Paglione, H. Zhang, Louis Taillefer, J. DeBenedictis, Ruixing Liang, D. A. Bonn, W. N. Hardy
Phys. Rev Lett.. 94, 147004 (2005)
Date posted: April 2008
