Antiferromagnetic Fields

For the first time, scientists have photographed the magnetic fields of an antiferromagnet. Now that the tiny, “secretive” fields have been imaged, super-fast and super-small quantum computers may be a little closer to reality.

From motors to magnetic poetry, ferromagnets are everywhere. But unlike normal magnets, whose large particles produce magnetic fields, individual atoms in antiferromagnet materials (such as the metal chromium) act like tiny magnets. And in quantum computers, being small is key.

Gabriel Aeppli, director of the London Centre for Nanotechnology, says: “Once you can see something, it makes it that much easier to start engineering it.”

 

The X-ray image (shown above) is one of many 3-D holograms revealing how antiferromagnets behave. "Since the discovery of X-rays over 100 years ago, it has been the dream of scientists and engineers to use them to make holographic images of moving objects, such as magnetic domains, at the nanoscale,” says Eric D. Isaacs, director of the Center for Nanoscale Materials.

 

 

—LiveScience Staff

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Credit: Oleg Shpyrko