“Magnetoscience” is concerned with the effect of magnetic fields on complex physical, chemical and biological processes. This field of study covers the effect of magnetic forces and torques, electromagnetic couplings and magnetostatic energy at the macro and microscopic levels.
At a macroscopic scale, magnetostatic forces are used to simulate a micro-gravity environment in a laboratory. This allows us to perform experiments that are usually performed during free-fall or in space. Those magnetostatic forces can also control convection in fluids where magnetic properties depends on temperature.
At the microscopic level, magnetic and electromagnetic couplings play an important role in material design. Those couplings can tune the crystallinity and the shape of crystals during crystal growth. In systems such as steel, magnetoscience adds a new tuning parameter to crystal growth techniques, that complements traditional approaches using thermal and mecanical treatments.
New phenomena are being explored particularly concerning atomic diffusion, observed in several alloys, for which an explanation is still lacking.
CONTACT : ERIC BEAUGNON