PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (February 10, 2025) — Kevin Storr, an associate professor of physics in the Brailsford College of Arts and Sciences at Prairie View A&M University, has secured a $40,000 grant from Clarkson Aerospace Corporation through the Department of Defense’s Air Force Materiel Command to study the thermal properties of two-dimensional materials under extreme conditions.
Kevin Storr, Ph.D.
The research will examine the electronic, magnetic, and thermal behavior of 2D materials in high magnetic fields—up to 15 tesla—and temperatures as low as 350 millikelvins. Using advanced characterization techniques, including electronic transport, torque magnetization, and thermal measurements, the study aims to identify phase transitions and structural changes that can be tuned and mapped.
A 15-tesla superconducting magnet housed in a vacuum-shielded cryostat will minimize helium boil-off, while a helium-3 insert will enable precise temperature control. A dilution refrigerator, once serviced, will allow experiments at even lower temperatures (20 mK). Probes with single-axis rotators will adjust the sample’s orientation relative to the magnetic field, facilitating measurements of anisotropy, cyclotron motion, the Hall effect, and angular dependence.
By manipulating temperature, magnetic field, and angle, this research aims to map phase changes and enhance the understanding of quantum materials. The grant supports the development of high-precision experimental techniques essential for breakthroughs in condensed matter physics.
By Joe McGinty