An international research team has proved the existence of spin-spirals in a quantum liquid. They emerge at low temperatures from the magnetic moments ("spins") of manganese scandium thiospinel single crystals (MnSc2S4). Neighbouring spins fluctuate here collectively as spirals, but when spatial distances are involved, they do not take on any particular order, just as water molecules will only form structures with neighbouring water molecules. Proof of this so-called "spiral spin-liquid" was achieved with the help of polarized diffuse neutron scattering on an instrument of Forschungszentrum Jülich at its outstation at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum.
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Read more on the homepage of the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science, an institute of Forschungszentrum Jülich: http://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Meldungen/JCNS/EN/2016/2016-10-26-Spiral-Spin.html
Original publication:
S. Gao et al.;
Spiral Spin-Liquid and the emergence of a vortex-like state in MnSc2S4;
Nature Physics (2016), Published online on 24.10. 2016, DOI:10.1038/nphys3914
Here we provide an overview of more selected papers by Jülich scientists that have been published in journals. These notifications comprise a brief summary as well as data regarding the publication: http://www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/Press/PressReleases/notifications/_node.html
Nature Physics