Thermodynamic phase transitions in a frustrated magnetic metamaterial

L. Anghinolfi*, H. Luetkens, J. Perron, M. G. Flokstra, O. Sendetskyi, A. Suter, T. Prokscha, P. M. Derlet, S. L. Lee, L. J. Heyderman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Materials with interacting magnetic degrees of freedom display a rich variety of magnetic behaviour that can lead to novel collective equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium phenomena. In equilibrium, thermodynamic phases appear with the associated phase transitions providing a characteristic signature of the underlying collective behaviour. Here we create a thermally active artificial kagome spin ice that is made up of a large array of dipolar interacting nanomagnets and undergoes phase transitions predicted by microscopic theory. We use low energy muon spectroscopy to probe the dynamic behaviour of the interacting nanomagnets and observe peaks in the muon relaxation rate that can be identified with the critical temperatures of the predicted phase transitions. This provides experimental evidence that a frustrated magnetic metamaterial can be engineered to admit thermodynamic phases.
Original languageEnglish
Article number8278
Number of pages6
JournalNature Communications
Volume6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Sept 2015

Keywords

  • Artificial spin-ice
  • Integral-equations
  • Generation
  • Relaxation
  • Rotation
  • Muons

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