Superconducting and Magnetic Materials

The Superconducting and Magnetic Materials Group at AGH conducts advanced experimental research on strongly correlated electron systems, with a particular emphasis on transition metal oxides exhibiting unconventional magnetism and superconductivity. Our work focuses primarily on laboratory-scale studies of single crystals and thin films, as well as on large-scale synchrotron-based experiments. We investigate magnetic materials such as magnetite (Fe₃O₄), murunskite, and various ferrites, alongside high-temperature superconductors from the cuprate family. Our experimental techniques include precise measurements of magnetization, magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, magnetoresistance, and high-temperature transport phenomena. A significant portion of our activity is devoted to exploring the effects of uniaxial stress and external magnetic fields on transport and magnetic properties. These efforts are supported by in-house infrastructure capable of operating under cryogenic conditions and high magnetic fields (up to 16 T), as well as collaboration with leading synchrotron radiation facilities such as SOLARIS, BESSY II, and ESRF. Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), and photoemission techniques (ARPES), we study the interplay between lattice distortions, orbital degrees of freedom, and electronic transitions. This multidisciplinary approach enables us to probe phase transitions—such as the Verwey transition in magnetite or the metal-insulator transition in rare-earth nickelates—at both macroscopic and microscopic scales. Our group maintains strong international collaborations to access unique sample preparation techniques and cutting-edge experimental tools. We are deeply committed to understanding how symmetry-breaking perturbations, like strain or directional pressure, can induce novel quantum phases and critical behavior in complex oxide materials.

1. Superconductivity and High- Temperature Superconductivity

  • Coexistance of magnetism and superconductivity: Y9Co7
  • Magnetoresistance, magnetisation, susceptibility, specific heat, microwave absorption of HTS: polycrystalline Y-Ba-Cu-O , Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O, Tl-Sr-Ba-Ca-Cu-O and Hg-Ba-Cu-O, single crystals and thin films: BiSCCO 2212, TlBaCuO 1223.
  • Critical current densities and their theoretical analysis
  • Analysis of experimental data within the Ginzburg- Landau- Abrikosov- Gorkov (GLAG) theory
  • Electronic and band structure from photoemission spectroscopy XPS/UPS/ARUPS
  • X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) using synchrotron radiation
  • Heavy fermion superconductivity UPt3

2. Physical properties of magnetite Fe3(1-x)O4 and substituted magnetite with Ti, Zn and Al

  • Magnetisation and susceptibility
  • Electric transport and thermoelectric power
  • Specific heat and thermodynamic properties
  • Structure, X-ray and neutron diffraction
  • Sound velocity and elastic properties
  • Electronic and band structure from photoemission spectroscopy XPS/UPS/ARUPS

3. Physical properties of (La,RE)1-x(Sr,Ca)x(Mn,Me)O3 manganites, where RE = rare earth, Me= transition metal

  • Magnetisation and susceptibility
  • Resistivity and magnetoresistance, colossal magnetoresistivity phenomena
  • Electron magnetic resonance and microwave absorption
  • Specific heat and thermodynamic properties
  • Electronic and band structure from photoemission spectroscopy XPS/UPS/ARUPS

Equipment

  • Vibrating sample magnetometer
  • Specific heat calorimeter
  • AC and DC susceptibility
  • Electron Magnetic Resonance (EPR/FMR)
  • Angular- Resolved Photoemission Spectrometer XPS/UPS/ARUPS
  • AC and DC resistivity

Head of the group:
dr hab. inż. Wojciech Tabiś

Staff:
prof. dr hab. inż. Zbigniew Kąkol
prof. dr hab. inż. Andrzej Kozłowski
dr Jacek Gatlik
dr Kamila Komędera
dr inż. Janusz Niewolski
dr inż. Waldemar Tokarz  
dr Ryszard Zalecki

PhD Students:
mgr inż. Mateusz Gala
mgr inż. Karolina Podgórska

Collaboration:
TU Wien  
Univ Zagreb, Physics Institute Zagreb
LPS
ESRF