Magnetism without Iron Discovered

There is a new kind of magnetism from a mineral known as herbertsmithite, which has been developed by a group of researchers. The researchers conducted the first measurements by laser pulses of low frequency to show the details of this mode of magnetism.

The elements of magnetism are never stable in this mineral thus a rare kind of fluid magnetism which is referred to as “quantum spin liquid.” This is actually the opposite of conventional magnetism which is present in Ferro magnets.

In conventional magnetism the forces are in the same direction therefore giving each other back-up. They could also align themselves in directions that are opposite thus cancelling the whole magnetic field of the material.

There have been previous observations of spin liquid state observed in the herbertsmithite but a detailed analysis of the material’s electrons response to light has never been given. This analysis is what holds the key in deciding which of the many theories about the material are right.

The teams from Harvard University, Boston College and MIT have all conducted successful measurements. Their analysis is in a paper in Physical Review Letters. The co-authors are the Biedenharn – MIT’s Associate Professor of Physics, Chun Hung Lui, graduate student Daniel Pilon, Nuh Gedik and other four persons.

Laser pulses whose duration was a trillionth of a second were used in conducting the measurements. What was revealed is that the movement of electrons was controlled by the magnetism. The observation above is then seen to support some theories which had not been proven experimentally.

“We think this is good evidence,” Gedik says, “and it can help to settle what has been a pretty big debate in spin-liquid research.”

Gedik’s counterpart, Pilon also explained that there are several theories trying to explain the formation of spin liquid state in herbertsmithite. He also added that there had never been any experiments to differentiate between the theories thus the belief that their experiment is the first evidence to do so.

The quantum spin liquids was a concept first heard in 1973 but it is until now that the measurements clarify everything. According to Gedik, potential applications at this initial stage are still difficult to predict.

A professor of physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Leon Balents who was not involved in the research said that the observations made during the measurements are very crucial when it comes to understanding the nature of spin liquid state.

The research team was supported by MIT’s Tian-Heng Han and Young Lee, Willie J. Padilla (Boston College), David Shrekenhamer and the U.S. Department of Energy.

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