Latest news related to the instrument

A team of researchers recently used the thermal-neutron two-axis diffractometer D23 at the ILL to investigate Na2 BaCo(PO4 )2 (NBCP), a material that surprisingly behaves as a ‘spin supersolid’ -a state combining properties of both a solid and a liquid. Neutrons, acting like tiny magnets themselves, were the ideal probes to reveal the hidden magnetic order and dynamics within this material. This discovery, which is also relevant for energy-efficient cooling, provides the first real-life evidence of a supersolid state in a quantum magnet.

Tiny vortices in magnetic materials called skyrmions act like quantum particles. If able to be stabilised and then manipulated, they could lead the next-generation of electronic devices that exploit magnetic spin to transfer and store information. A new type of skyrmion discovered in an antiferromagnetic compound could wind up progress in the right direction.The study of complex magnetic behaviou…