Quantum mapmakers complete first voyage through spin liquid

Quantum mapmakers complete first voyage through spin liquid: The scientists mapped quantum spin liquid by implanting muons – sub-atomic particles which come from space but can also be produced in particle accelerators – into the spin liquid in order to measure the microscopic magnetism...

The quantum spin liquid state that has been mapped by the team is found in 70 milligrams of tiny black crystals of the layered organic material κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu2(CN)3 cooled to just a couple of hundredths of a degree above absolute zero. Despite it being extremely difficult to make the tiny plate-like crystals, the material is perfect for these experiments since it is on the border between being an insulator and a metal, a key requirement for the existence of the quantum spin liquid state...

Inside the material, magnetic atoms are arranged on triangular grids and behave as ‘quantum spins’. The interactions between these spins make them liquid-like, so they never freeze into one configuration.