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Condensed-matter physics

Up the magnetic pressure

Nature volume 444, pages 832–833 (2006)Cite this article

Observations of a phenomenon known as the magnetic fountain effect in superfluid helium are not just beautiful experiments, but could also supply a tool for studying many other exotic magnetic phenomena.

At temperatures just a few millikelvin above absolute zero, the light helium isotope 3He, in its liquid state, develops exotic superfluid properties1. Uniquely, this superfluidity allows the frictionless transport of not only mass, but also magnetism. On page 909 of this issue2, Yamaguchi et al. exploit the interplay between these two properties to produce a device based on superfluid 3He that induces magnetism from applied pressure, and vice versa.

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Figure 1: The magnetic fountain effect.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YB, UK

    Shaun Fisher & George Pickett

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  1. Shaun Fisher
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  2. George Pickett
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Fisher, S., Pickett, G. Up the magnetic pressure. Nature 444, 832–833 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/444832a

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