First Name
Brian
Middle Name
G.
Last Name
Turrell
Position
Professor Emeritus
Office Room
Hennings 303
Tel (Office)
(604) 822-4360
Email
turrell@phas.ubc.ca
Research Groups

Students Wanted
not accepting


Bachelor's Degree
Oxford

Master's Degree
Oxford

Doctoral Degree
Oxford

Awards

William Hulme Open Exhibition, Brasenose College, Oxford, 1956-59; DSIR Graduate Scholarship, 1959-62; SRC Senior Visiting Fellow, Oxford, 1971-72; Visiting Professor, Univ. of New South Wales, 1978-89; UBC Senior Killam Fellowship, 1985-86; Research Fellow and Visiting Professor, Univ. of Leuven, 1997-98.


Committees and Service

Head, 1987-97; Acting Head, Jan - Dec, 2003; TRIUMF Management Board, 1999-2004; Observer, Board of Trustees, Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, 1991-2003.


Research Area
Condensed Matter

Research Field
Magnetism; Nuclear Orientation; NMR.

Research Title
Studies of Magnetism

Abstract

Nuclear spins in magnetic materials at millikelvin temperatures are oriented by the hyperfine interaction, with nuclear order seen via the directional anisotropy of gamma-rays emitted by radioactive nuclei doped into the specimen. Nuclear magnetic resonance of the oriented nuclei (NMRON) is then detected by the change in anisotropy upon application of a radiofrequency field. NMRON permits the study of very dilute systems, yielding information about hyperfine fields, nuclear spin relaxation times, and magnetic structure. Our group was the first to detect continuous wave NMRON in an antiferromagnet and pulsed NMRON in insulating magnetic materials. We have observed free induction decays, spin echoes and double quantum transitions. Current interests include the study of low-dimensional systems and ultrathin magnetic films including multilayers. We are also performing experiments using the new isotope separator facility (ISAC) at TRIUMF.