No Spin: Quantum Technology Getting Spun Up Via Quantum Spin Liquid Research
Unusual state of matter in new material holds promise for transformative quantum technologies
Key points…
+ Research provides evidence of a highly unusual quantum state, a quantum spin liquid, that could be used in the development of spintronic devices, quantum computers and other transformative quantum technologies.
“The spin excitations which we observed in the spectra provide one of the signatures for a quantum spin liquid state, a novel phase of matter,” explained Yu. “A quantum spin liquid state possesses extensive many-body entanglement, a kind of correlation, or a link between all the spins. As an analogy, think of a bucket of water with several fishing floats on the surface. If you disturb one float, all the floats will also be disturbed.”
+ A large international team led by the Tokyo University of Science synthesised a material which did not exhibit any spin ordering or freezing in experiments at a range of low temperatures
+ Other experimental studies, which included magnetic susceptibility, magnetisation, heat capacity, and muon spin relation measurements, also supported the presence of a quantum spin liquid in the material. + The publication authors, led by Masayoshi Fujihala, reported that the quantum spin liquid behaviour could not be explained theoretically by the frustrated Heisenberg model with nearest neighbour exchange interactions.
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