Artificial spin ice: from scientific toy to material by design (Presentation Recording)

Cristiano Nisoli; Peter Schiffer; Ian Gilbert

doi:10.1117/12.2186472

5 October 2015 Artificial spin ice: from scientific toy to material by design (Presentation Recording)

Cristiano Nisoli, Peter Schiffer, Ian Gilbert

Proceedings Volume 9551, Spintronics VIII; 95511T (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2186472
Event: SPIE Nanoscience + Engineering, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Frustration, the presence of constraints/interactions that cannot be completely satisfied, is ubiquitous in the physical sciences as well as in life and a source of degeneracy and disorder which gives rise to new and interesting physical phenomena. In the past years a new perspective has opened in the study of frustration through the creation of artificial frustrated magnetic systems, consisting of arrays of lithographically fabricated single-domain ferromagnetic nanostructures that behave like giant Ising spins. The interactions can be controlled through their geometric properties and arrangement: The degrees of freedom of the material can be directly tuned, but also individually observed. Experimental studies have unearthed intriguing connections to the out-of-equilibrium physics of disordered systems and non-thermal “granular” materials, while revealing strong analogies to spin ice materials and their fractionalized magnetic monopole excitations, lending the enterprise a distinctly interdisciplinary flavor. In this talk we outline the more recent developments and future vistas for progress in this rapidly expanding field. We show how recent results have opened paths to new territories. Higher control, inclusive of genuine thermal ensembles have replaced the earlier and coarser methods based on magnetic agitation. Dynamical versions are now being realized, characterized in real time via PEEM, revealing statistical mechanics in action. This has lead us to afford implementation of new geometries, not found in nature, for dedicated bottom up design of desired emergent properties. Born as a scientific toy to investigate frustration-by-design, artificial spin ice might now be used to open “a path into an uncharted territory, a landscape of advanced functional materials in which topological effects on physical properties can be explored and harnessed.”

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Cristiano Nisoli, Peter Schiffer, and Ian Gilbert "Artificial spin ice: from scientific toy to material by design (Presentation Recording)", Proc. SPIE 9551, Spintronics VIII, 95511T (5 October 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2186472

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available