Raman Sankar

A layered magnet is like a stack of paper: each sheet is a thin crystalline layer, and foreign atoms can be inserted between them like bookmarks. In the material Co₁₋ₓFeₓNb₃S₆, some cobalt atoms are replaced by iron, and this substitution acts like changing the paper type in the stack. The sheets start vibrating differently, and the whole stack responds differently to a magnetic field.

The layered material (SnS)1.15(TaS2) resembles a stack of paper, where the sheets conduct electricity and the interlayers prevent them from sticking together. At ambient pressure, this material conducts current without resistance, making it a superconductor.

In a crystal that for centuries was called 'fool's gold,' physicists have spotted genuine treasure. The compound MnTe2 with a pyrite structure has become the stage for a quantum ballet: spin waves here twist into left- and right-handed vortices, with the twist direction firmly tied to momentum.

In a ballroom where couples were dancing, the music changed, and the pairs lined up in rows suddenly spun into whirlpools. That is how the magnetic crystal Fe3Ge rearranges its internal pattern once the temperature climbs above 375 kelvins, which is about a hundred degrees of heat.