Browse Physics

A new vanadium compound exhibits the telltale features of a quantum spin liquid—a material that resists magnetic ordering down to absolute zero.

A new experimental scheme allows the controlled generation and observation of magnetic avalanches, a cascade of spin flips that propagates through a magnetic sample like a three-dimensional fire.

A newly discovered type of magnetoresistance, resulting from spin-dependent scattering at a metal-magnet interface, may potentially be used to study the magnetization in insulating magnets or to develop new spintronic devices.

Experiments demonstrate the possibility of engineering stable, nanometer-scale magnetic structures in thin magnetic films by firing laser pulses at them.

A magnetometer based on laser measurements of atomic energy levels can detect a magnetic field one hundred billion times smaller than the Earth’s.

Combining two spin-dependent effects generates a microwave signal that can be easily read to study the magnetization dynamics in a device with novel geometry.

New search for hypothetical particle focuses on old rocks where monopole abundance should be higher.

The excitation spectrum of artificial spin ices can be used to identify defects that behave as magnetic monopoles.

Surface spectroscopy shows that a material long known as a Kondo insulator also exhibits the metallic surface states of a topological insulator.

Nanoscale engineering of multiferroic thin films enables electric control of a device’s interface magnetism, thus offering a promising prospective for ultralow power spintronics.

A proposed design for a cylindrical shell with unusual magnetic properties offers a way to concentrate magnetic field energy.

An array of bar magnets that rotate on hinges serves as a model of a magnetic material.

New research has identified a rare form of magnetism at the interface between two different oxide compounds.

Magnetic interactions between atoms contribute to sliding friction.

Theorists consider the experimental signature of a quantum spin ice.

Advances in magnetic resonance spectroscopy could remedy the problems caused by movement or unstable fields during a scan.