Missions

Orbital magnetism, a thermodynamic property corresponding to equilibrium currents in response to an applied magnetic field, provides a unique probe for studying both macroscopic and microscopic systems. This project aims to exploit recently developed high-sensitivity detectors to probe newly discovered anomalous quantum Hall effect phases in rhombohedral graphene. In particular, we wish to study phases that, due to interaction, exhibit spontaneous orbital ferromagnetism.

Activities

The research will combine advanced sample fabrication, optimization of magnetic sensors, and low-temperature, low-noise measurements of the transport and magnetic properties of the fabricated samples.

Skills

Expertise in rhombohedral graphene-based sample fabrication, low noise and low temperature measurements

Work Context

Research will be conducted in collaboration with PhD students and members of the Orsay group, using the expertise and manufacturing capabilities of the LPS as well as the neighbouring C2N laboratory, and in collaboration with TIFR Mumbai, India.
The Solid State Physics Laboratory (LPS) is a joint research unit (UMR 8502) of Université Paris-Saclay and the CNRS. It is affiliated with the CNRS Institute of Physics and the 28th section of the National Council of Universities. The LPS is a member of the Friedel-Jacquinot Federation, a coordinating body for physics research on the Moulon plateau in Orsay (Île-de-France). It brings together about one hundred researchers and research professors, experimentalists and theorists, and research activity is supported by some sixty engineers, technicians, and administrative staff.
Each year, the laboratory welcomes a large number of undergraduate and graduate students, including many doctoral candidates, as well as postdoctoral researchers and visiting scientists. The laboratory covers a wider range of topics than its name suggests and aims to address the full diversity of condensed matter physics. Research activity is organized around three main areas, each involving roughly the same number of scientists:
New electronic states of matter; Physical phenomena at reduced dimensions; Soft matter and the physical-biological interface. In the first axis are grouped both experimental and theoretical studies relating to the properties of systems in which electronic correlations are generally strong and which are the site of remarkable properties and unconventional electronic states such as superconductivity, magnetism, metal-insulator transitions etc. The second area encompasses activities related to "nanoscience" in its broadest sense. These are approached from the perspective of fundamental properties, where the dimensions of an object become as small as certain characteristic distances (coherence length, mean free path, etc.). The third area extends the concept of "soft matter" to biological systems. Topics thus range from complex systems to living tissues, from liquid crystals to foams, including polymers and granular systems. These physical studies lie at the interface with physical chemistry and biology. The research will be conducted within the Mesoscopic Physics team at the Solid State Physics Laboratory (CNRS-UMR 8502).