Changing magnetism: A new form of magnetism has been discovered

However, if you look closely, you can see an additional arrangement that antimagnets don't have: in a variable magnet, all electrons moving in the same direction have the same spin. “This ordering phenomenon has nothing to do with the spatial arrangement – that is, the location of the electrons – but only with the directions of the electrons’ speeds.” says Elmers. This key difference results in the materials having unexpected properties already reserved for ferromagnets.

Experimental evidence of changing magnetism

The three working groups succeeded in confirming theoretical predictions about variable magnets in experiments, thus proving the existence of a new form of magnetism. To do this, Elmers' research group at the German Electron Synchrotron in Hamburg irradiated a thin layer of ruthenium dioxide with X-ray light, exciting the material's electrons to such an extent that they were knocked out of the layer and exposed. From this, the speed and direction of rotation of the particles can be determined. The results indicate that ruthenium dioxide is an alternative magnet, as predicted theoretically. The researchers published the results in the journal Science Advances on January 31, 2024.

Another research team led by Thomas Jungwirth of the University of Nottingham and a group led by Zhang Liu of the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen examined manganese telluride and manganese ditelluride. According to theoretical calculations, both materials should also be variable magnets. Using photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the angle, both groups succeeded in detecting clear magnetic properties of age in both materials. Your search results Get it February 14, 2024 Published in the magazine “Nature”.. “The two groups used different experimental approaches and analysis methods, and were able to shed light on the complex magnetic structures of these materials,” wrote physicist Karmin Otieri of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, who was not involved in the work. In the accompanying article.

“The newly emerging concepts have the potential to become an integral part of physics textbooks.”Carmine Autieri, physicist

A newly discovered form of variable magnetism could enable a variety of technological applications. Variable magnets can be particularly useful in spintronics, where signals are transmitted not by charge, but by particle spin. “Ferromagnets can induce stray magnetic fields that affect the performance of the material, but these fields do not occur with antimagnets.” Otieri writes. Variable magnets can therefore be used to take advantage of magnetic properties without generating destructive magnetic fields. Variable magnets can also enable components with higher clock frequencies than before. “It is likely that these emerging concepts will soon become an integral part of physics textbooks,” says Autieri.