A common rock-forming mineral is also an exotic magnet

What is it about?

Pyroxenes are a group of rock-forming minerals, which were found not only in Earth's mantle, but also on Moon, Mars and asteroids. While they are important for mineralogy, their magnetic properties are often overlooked. This study shows that chains of magnetic ions in the pyroxene crystal lattice host exotic magnetic interactions.

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Photo by MiningWatch Portugal on Unsplash

Photo by MiningWatch Portugal on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Novel magnetic materials can not only be used in a new generation of memory devices but also as platform for investigation of fundamental quantum-mechanical properties. In particular, cobalt-based magnets are actively studied as a path towards so-called "frustrated" magnetism, a situation where the geometry of the lattice or magnetic interactions strongly suppress critical temperature. The most interesting case is when no magnetic order is observed down to 0 Kelvin, and the crystal stays in a so-called "spin liquid" state. In this study we show that in a cobalt-based pyroxene these frustrating interactions between magnetic ions are prevalent.