Recent Developments at the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory

At the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory (Hochfeld-Magnetlabor Dresden, HLD), that in 2007 has opened its doors for external users, pulsed magnetic fields up to 70 T on a timescale of 150 ms as well as 60 T with 1.5 s pulse duration are available and a European record field of 87.2 T has been reached [1,2]. The laboratory has set the ambitious goal of reaching 100 T on a 10 ms timescale. As a unique feature, a free-electron-laser facility next door allows high-brilliance radiation to be fed into the pulsed-field cells of the HLD, thus making possible high-field magneto-optical experiments in the range 3-250 µm. Cryotechniques and different sample probes for a broad range of experimental techniques custom designed for the pulsed magnets are readily available for users. These techniques include magnetization, ultrasound, electron spin resonance, cyclotron resonance, as well as nuclear magnetic resonance and specific-heat measurements. Recent improvements in signal-to-noise ratios allow to resolve relative resistance changes in electrical-transport measurements of about 10^-4 [3] and relative length changes in magnetostriction experiments of about 10^-7 [4]. In reply to the very strong user demand an extension of the HLD with additional pulse-field cells, capacitor bank, and improved infrastructure will be built starting from 2011. In-house research of the HLD focuses on electronic properties of strongly correlated electron systems at high magnetic fields. Besides introducing some highlights of the HLD experimental infrastructure, some recent scientific research results will be presented.