Physicists Confirm The Existence of a Third Form of Magnetism

Scientists have demonstrated control over a newly theorized type of magnetism, known as altermagnetism, by manipulating nanoscale magnetic whirlpools in an ultra-thin wafer of manganese telluride. 'Our experimental work has provided a bridge between theoretical concepts and real-life realization, which hopefully illuminates a path to developing altermagnetic materials for practical applications,' says University of Nottingham physicist Oliver Amin, who led the research with PhD student Alfred Dal Din. From the report: Using a device that accelerates electrons to blinding speeds, a team led by researchers from the University of Nottingham showered an ultra-thin wafer of manganese telluride with X-rays of different polarizations, revealing changes on a nanometer scale reflecting magnetic activity unlike anything seen before. More recently, a third configuration of particles in ferromagnetic materials was theorized.

In what's referred to as altermagnetism, particles are arranged in a canceling fashion like antiferromagnetism, yet rotated just enough to allow for confined forces on a nanoscale -- not enough to pin a grocery list to your freezer, but with discrete properties that engineers are keen to manipulate into storing data or channeling energy. 'Altermagnets consist of magnetic moments that point antiparallel to their neighbors,' explains University of Nottingham physicist Peter Wadley. 'However, each part of the crystal hosting these tiny moments is rotated with respect to its neighbors. This is like antiferromagnetism with a twist! But this subtle difference has huge ramifications.'

Experiments have since confirmed the existence of this in-between 'alter' magnetism. However, none had directly demonstrated it was possible to manipulate its tiny magnetic vortices in ways that might prove useful. Wadley and his colleagues demonstrated that a sheet of manganese telluride just a few nanometers thick could be distorted in ways that intentionally created distinct magnetic whirlpools on the wafer's surface. 'Our experimental work has provided a bridge between theoretical concepts and real-life realization, which hopefully illuminates a path to developing altermagnetic materials for practical applications,' says University of Nottingham physicist Oliver Amin.
This research was published in the journal Nature.

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