Emergent reduced dimensionality by vertex frustration in artificial spin ice

Ian Gilbert, Yuyang Lao, Isaac Carrasquillo, Liam O'brien, Justin D. Watts, Michael Manno, Chris Leighton, Andreas Scholl, Cristiano Nisoli, Peter Schiffer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

115 Scopus citations

Abstract

Reducing the dimensionality of a physical system can have a profound effect on its properties, as in the ordering of low-dimensional magnetic materials, phonon dispersion in mercury chain salts, sliding phases, and the electronic states of graphene. Here we explore the emergence of quasi-one-dimensional behaviour in two-dimensional artificial spin ice, a class of lithographically fabricated nanomagnet arrays used to study geometrical frustration. We extend the implementation of artificial spin ice by fabricating a new array geometry, the so-called tetris lattice. We demonstrate that the ground state of the tetris lattice consists of alternating ordered and disordered bands of nanomagnetic moments. The disordered bands can be mapped onto an emergent thermal one-dimensional Ising model. Furthermore, we show that the level of degeneracy associated with these bands dictates the susceptibility of island moments to thermally induced reversals, thus establishing that vertex frustration can reduce the relevant dimensionality of physical behaviour in a magnetic system.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)162-165
Number of pages4
JournalNature Physics
Volume12
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2 2016
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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