The crystal resembles a layered pie: alternating layers of europium, gallium, and aluminum atoms stack in a strict order. Usually, such materials shouldn't surprise us with magnetism: they are too symmetric. But inside this crystal, magnetic vortices were found, resembling tiny whirlpools that arrange into neat lattices.

Using X-ray radiation, physicists mapped the electron energies in this crystal. They found that at a certain ratio of gallium to aluminum, a new pocket appears on the map — a region where electrons can move more freely. This pocket dictates the periodicity of the magnetic patterns: lines connecting equivalent points on different pockets match the sizes of the vortex lattices.

The same mechanism also explains the spiral magnetic waves that arise in this material without any external field. So, different magnetic patterns share a common origin — the geometry of electron pockets. By tweaking the crystal's composition, one can tune this geometry and create desired magnetic textures.