Pascal Manuel

The EuAuBi crystal is like a layered cake of europium, gold, and bismuth atoms. When cooled to near absolute zero, three different magnetic patterns appear in sequence, like a kaleidoscope pattern shifting with a slight turn. First, the magnetic atoms align strictly in antiphase, then they tilt slightly, and at even lower temperatures, a third order emerges.

A thin film of iron oxide SrFeO3 sits on a substrate that slightly stretches it. Inside the film, the magnetic moments of atoms twist into a spiral, like a spiral staircase. The strain changed that staircase: the step became shorter, and the axis itself tilted. The reason lies in oxygen.

The hanmilite crystal, resembling a layered cake of copper and boron, behaves like a ladder: the copper spins are arranged in two parallel rails connected by rungs.