Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Beijing, August 21 (Xinhua) it is reported that scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy have used neutron scattering to determine whether the atomic structure of a special material can hold a new state called "spiral rotating liquid." By tracking tiny magnetic moments called "spins" in the honeycomb lattice of layered ferromagnets, the team found the first two-dimensional system capable of accommodating the state.

The ▲ neutron scattering experiment reveals the spin correlation in ferric chloride and provides evidence of the existence of spiral spin liquid. The picture is a concept map drawn by the artist.

This discovery lays a testing foundation for future research on physical phenomena, or will promote the development of a new generation of information technology, including "fractals" and "Siegmings". The fractal is a collective quantized vibration, which has a bright future in the field of quantum computing. Skinner is a new type of magnetic spin texture, which may promote the progress of high-density data storage technology.

"substances that can hold spiral spin liquids are particularly exciting because they have the potential to generate quantum spin liquids, quantum textures, and fractal excitations." Said Noble of Oak Forest National Laboratory, who led the study.

It has been theoretically predicted that the honeycomb lattice can hold helical spin liquids. In this new state, the spin can form a fluctuating spiral bottle opener-like structure.

However, until this study, scientists have not been able to find experimental evidence of the existence of this state in a two-dimensional system. The two-dimensional system is composed of layered crystal matter, in which the interaction in the plane direction is stronger than that in the superposition direction.

This theory was put forward more than ten years ago. Noble believes that ferric chloride can be used as a test platform for this theory. Together with co-author Andrew Kristiansen of the study, he found Michael McGuire, a colleague at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (who has made achievements in the cultivation and research of two-dimensional materials). He was asked to synthesize a ferric chloride sample for neutron diffraction measurements. Just as two-dimensional graphene exists in the form of honeycomb carbon lattice in bulk graphite, two-dimensional layered iron also exists in the form of honeycomb monolayer in bulk iron. "previous reports have suggested that this interesting honeycomb material can exhibit complex magnetic behavior at low temperatures."

"there are chlorine atoms on the upper and lower sides of each layer of honeycomb iron, forming a 'chlorine-iron-chlorine' splint structure." "the chlorine atom at the top of each splint is connected to the chlorine atom at the bottom of the upper splint only by van der Waals force," McGuire explained. "the interaction between the two is very weak, so materials like this can easily be peeled off into thin layers. The thinnest can be as thin as a single layer of 'splint'. This property is very suitable for device development and helps us understand the evolution of quantum physics from three-dimensional to two-dimensional."

In quantum materials, the spin behavior of electrons can be divided into "collective" and "strange". If a spin changes, all spins will react, an entangled state that Einstein called "ghostly teleaction". At this point, the system is in a "frustrating" state-the liquid can remain disordered because the electron spin is constantly changing direction, forcing other entangled electrons to fluctuate accordingly.

Sixty years ago, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory carried out the first neutron diffraction study of ferric chloride crystals. Today, the laboratory has a high degree of expertise in material synthesis, neutron scattering, simulation, theory, imaging and computing, and has carried out groundbreaking exploration in the field of magnetic quantum materials. these materials will promote the development of a new generation of information security and storage technology.

The experts and tools of Oak Ridge National Laboratory hashing neutron sources and high-flux isotope reactors play an important role in successfully mapping the spin motion in spiral spin liquids. "the neutron scattering data we obtained from hash neutron sources and high-flux isotope reactors provide key evidence for the existence of spiral spin liquids," Gao said. "

"through neutron scattering experiments, we understand how energy and momentum are exchanged between neutrons and samples, so that their magnetic properties can be inferred." Said Matthew Stone, co-author of the study. This is how he describes the magnetic structure of the spiral spin liquid: "it looks like a mountain contour map surrounded by circles; if you walk along the circle, all the spins point in the same direction; but if you start to walk outward and cross different loops, these spins will begin to rotate around the axis." this is the origin of the word 'helix'. "

"our research shows that helical spin liquids are possible in honeycomb lattice materials." "this provides a new way for the scientific community to explore spin textures and new excited states, such as fractals, and so on," Andrew Kristiansen said. these findings may be applied in the future, such as quantum computing. "

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