Large-Scale Cousin of Elusive 'Magnetic Monopoles' Found at NIST (CENTER) (1 of 3) (IMAGE)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Large-Scale Cousin of Elusive 'Magnetic Monopoles' Found at NIST (CENTER) (1 of 3)

Caption

Magnetic monopoles are created (top) when the spin of an ion in one corner of a spin ice crystal is knocked askew, creating a monopole (red sphere) and adjacent antimonopole (blue sphere). Neutron scattering at the NCNR allowed the team to see the spin ice's transition from its normal state (center) to the monopole state. Monopoles scatter neutrons in a telltale fashion indicated by the red arrows in (bottom.)

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NIST

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