Discover new material form

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, have discovered a new form of material and also a new form of magnetism, which can change the way computers store information.

This breakthrough discovery has raised the total number of magnetic states that people know to 3.

According to Nature, the MIT team's experiments showed the existence of the third fundamental state of magnetism called quantum vortex liquid (QS L ).

MIT physicists took 10 months to create an original herbertsmithite crystal
substance, 7mm long and 0.2g heavy to prove the existence of new magnetic forms. (Photo: Daily Mail)

QSL is a solid crystal, but its magnetic state is described as liquid: Unlike the other two types of magnetism, the magnetic directions within each individual matter particle fluctuate continuously, like Continuous movement of molecules in a real liquid.

Ferromagnetic - simple magnetism of a magnet or compass needle - has been known for centuries. The conjecture and discovery of antiferromagnetism - the basis for readers in today's computer hard disks - helped bring Nobel Prize in Physics to Louis Neel in 1970 and MIT professor Clifford Shull in 1994.

In the second form of magnetism, antiferromagnetism, the magnetic fields of ions inside a metal or alloy reduce each other.

In both cases, the materials are magnetic only when cooled to below a certain critical temperature threshold.

Philip Anderson, a leading theoretical physicist, first introduced the concept of the third magnetic form in 1987. He said that this state could be related to how superconductors are at temperatures. high.

Until recently, researchers have succeeded in creating matter in this third magnetic form. MIT physics professor Young Lee and his colleagues spent 10 months building a large and pure QSL crystal called herbertsmithite . They are continuing to study its characteristics in detail.

Professor Lee said, although it will take a lot of time to apply the 'basic research' in practice, this work could lead to improvements in information storage or contact information. thanks to a strange quantum phenomenon called 'long-range solidarity' (the phenomenon in which two particles are far apart can immediately affect each other's state).