Researchers from Japan have theoretically demonstrated that shining specific light on magnetic metals can induce non-reciprocal magnetic interactions that effectively violate Newton's third law, leading to a novel chiral phase with persistent rotation, opening new avenues in non-equilibrium materials science and potential technological applications.
Researchers have achieved the first direct measurement of the quantum metric tensor in black phosphorus, a breakthrough that enhances understanding of quantum phenomena in solids and could advance quantum computing and materials science.
A new theoretical framework has been developed that unifies quantum mechanics and relativity in describing electron spin-lattice interactions in solids, improving the accuracy of modeling spin-related phenomena and advancing potential applications in spintronics and quantum technologies.
Scientists at ETH Zurich have discovered a new type of magnetism in a custom-engineered moiré material. Unlike traditional ferromagnetism, this magnetism arises from the alignment of electron spins to minimize kinetic energy rather than the exchange interaction. The researchers filled the material with electrons and observed that it exhibited ferromagnetic behavior when there was more than one electron per lattice site. This phenomenon, known as kinetic magnetism, had previously only been observed in model systems and not in extended solid-state systems. Further research will explore the preservation of ferromagnetism at higher temperatures.
Fractons, fractions of spin excitations, are immobile and could be used for secure information storage. Theoretical physicists have modeled octahedral crystal structures with antiferromagnetically interacting corner atoms to reveal special patterns with characteristic pinch points in the spin correlations, which can be detected experimentally in a real material with neutron experiments. Quantum fluctuations do not enhance the visibility of fractons, but on the contrary, completely blur them, even at absolute zero temperature. The next step is to develop a model in which quantum fluctuations can be regulated up or down to study the extended quantum electrodynamic theory with its fractons in more detail.
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have developed new devices based on 2D materials that could enhance information processing and data storage while consuming less power and generating less heat. The devices include a spin-based field-effect transistor, a charge-based field-effect transistor, a charge-based floating-gate field-effect-transistor, and magnetic tunnel junctions. The unique properties of 2D materials also make it possible to efficiently design newer types of qubits for quantum computing, including spin-, valley-, and spin-valley qubits. These emerging devices offer the promise of energy-efficient high-performance computing and storage, enabling beyond-Moore integration and sparking new explorations in solid-state physics and their applications.