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Quantum materials

Melted spin ice

Nature Physics volume 19, pages 17–18 (2023)Cite this article

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Spin ices have magnetic moments arranged on a lattice with many possible ground-state configurations. Quantum effects can ‘melt’ the spin ice into a liquid that fails to form static order even at absolute zero despite strong interactions.

Spin liquids are different from molecular liquids like water in that they persist down to absolute zero temperature despite strong interactions between spins. Some of the most interesting predictions for spin liquids are quantum in nature. Spin liquids can be a superposition of different ordering patterns — in some cases creating entanglement between spins that are far apart. The spin liquid states can be dynamic and have topological properties. These phases are predicted to have exotic emergent properties and can form unconventional excitations with properties distinct from the underlying electrons. The number of predicted excitations with different symmetry is vast and may have applications to data storage and quantum technologies2,3,4,5.

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Fig. 1: Spins in an antiferromagnet and the spin ice Pr2Zr2O7.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National High Magnetic Field Lab, Los Alamos National Lab, Los Alamos, NM, USA

    Vivien S. Zapf & Minseong Lee

  2. Quantum Group, Los Alamos National Lab, Los Alamos, NM, USA

    Priscila F. S. Rosa

Authors
  1. Vivien S. Zapf
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  2. Minseong Lee
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  3. Priscila F. S. Rosa
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Correspondence to Vivien S. Zapf.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Zapf, V.S., Lee, M. & Rosa, P.F.S. Melted spin ice. Nat. Phys. 19, 17–18 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01814-6

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