Browse Physics

Understanding the electronic structure of shape-memory alloys promises magnetic control over their crystal structures and hence mechanical properties.

Quantum interference effects can, in theory, lead to the emergence of new particles carrying exotic quantum numbers at a critical point. But how good is the evidence that this happens?

The band structure of iron-based superconductors gives rise to yet another scenario for the appearance of Dirac fermions.

A single $30$-femtosecond pulse has been used to observe x-ray diffraction of a magnetic material, potentially opening the way to ultrafast probing of spin dynamics with nanometer spatial resolution.

Thermal magnetic fluctuations, usually thought of as a barrier to magnetic information storage and processing, can be harnessed to make green, low-energy magnetic applications a possibility.

The magnetic state of a multiferroic device can be controlled purely by an electric field—a property that could greatly reduce overheating in data storage devices.

A theory of novel phase formation near quantum critical points suggests that large fluctuations lead to magnetic analogs of inhomogeneous superconductivity.

A microscopic study of magnetic nanoislands on a surface challenges the widely held view that all atoms in a relaxing nanoparticle flip their spins in unison.

Magnetic switching is typically a continuous process, where a field pulse rotates a magnet from up to down, but it is now possible to do this faster — and with all-optical methods — by first quenching the magnetization to zero and then repolarizing it in the opposite direction.

The fractional quantum Hall effect, thought to be special to two dimensions, may also flourish in three, providing a possible explanation for anomalies observed in certain 3D materials in high magnetic fields.

Transport measurements show evidence of a topologically nontrivial structure—a lattice of skyrmions—in intermetallic $\text{MnSi}$.

A quantum dot refrigerator that cools an electron gas close to $100\text{mK}$ may allow experimentalists to better probe electron-electron interactions in quantum confined systems.

Using a double spin-filter tunnel junction consisting of two magnetic insulating layers, researchers have observed a sizeable magnetoresistance without using magnetic electrodes, thus tuning the tunneling via the magnetic state of the insulating layers and by application of an electric voltage.

Most applications based on magnetism are incompatible with domain walls, which interrupt a homogeneous magnetization. Scientists are turning this view around as they discover new ways to use an electric current to manipulate and store information in nanoscale domain walls.