Data Science

Magnetic ground states with peculiar spin textures, such as magnetic skyrmions and multifunctional domains are of enormous interest for the fundamental physics governing their origin as well as potential applications in emerging technologies. Of particular interest are multiferroics, where sophisticated interactions between electric and magnetic phenomena can be used to tailor several functionalities.

Muon spin rotation experiments provide unique microscopic insight into the superconductivity and magnetism of transition metal dichalcogenides — and reveal complex and unconventional patterns, hinting towards a common mechanism for and electronic origin of ‘unconventional’ superconductivity.

Transition metals, characterized by their partially filled d-orbitals, provide the basis for many of the most relevant processes in chemistry, biology, and physics. Embedded as single atoms or in small clusters, they give rise to exceptional optical, chemical, and magnetic properties. So far, it has proven impossible to disentangle the complex network of excited quantum states, which greatly hinders predicting and controlling of material properties. We employed double-resonant four-wave mixing spectroscopy to quantitatively resolve the bright and perturbing dark quantum states of the neutral copper dimer.

Detailed characterization of cellular structure and development of exceptionally preserved ancient tiny fossils from South China by synchrotron based X-ray tomographic microscopy at TOMCAT led an international team of researchers from the University of Bristol and Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology to the discovery that animal-like embryos evolved long before the first animals appear in the fossil record.

The origin of the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) in RNiO₃ perovskites with R = trivalent 4f ion has challenged the condensed matter research community for almost three decades. A drawback for progress in this direction has been the lack of studies combining physical properties and accurate structural data covering the full nickelate phase diagram. Here we focus on a small region close to the itinerant limit (R = Pr, 1.5K < T < 300K), where we investigate the gap opening and the simultaneous emergence of charge order in PrNiO₃.

A study of the extended Kitaev model on the honeycomb lattice that factors in Kitaev, Heisenberg and off-diagonal symmetric interactions provides both a definitive answer on proximate Kitaev states and an essential guide to the physics of candidate Kitaev materials.

An international collaboration consisting of metrology and photon diagnostics groups Germany, the U.S.A., Switzerland, and Japan performed a set of cross-calibration measurements of optical properties on the Bernina branch of the Aramis beamline [1].  The collaboration saw the DESY-developed gas detector, a novel diamond detector from Brookhaven, and a room temperature radiometer from AIST in Japan placed at the Bernina end station and measure the absolute intensity of the FEL light as it passed through the optical elements.  The cross-calibrated measurements used in conjuction with the photon beam intensity-gas (PBIG) monitor at the front end of the Aramis beamline to characterize the performance of the optical components on the Bernina branch and then compare them to the expected theoretical values.  The measurements were performed at photon energies of 6.08 and about 7.22 keV.

Artificial spin ices consist of nanomagnets arranged on the sites of various periodic and aperiodic lattices. They have enabled the experimental investigation of a variety of fascinating phenomena such as frustration, emergent magnetic monopoles and phase transitions that have previously been the domain of bulk spin crystals and theory, as we discuss in this Review.

Strongly correlated kagome magnets are promising candidates for achieving controllable topological devices owing to the rich interplay between inherent Dirac fermions and correlation-driven magnetism. Here we report tunable local magnetism and its intriguing control of topological electronic response near room temperature in the kagome magnet Fe₃Sn₂ using small angle neutron scattering, muon spin rotation, and magnetoresistivity measurement techniques.

Shape-morphing systems, which can perform complex tasks through morphological transformations, are of great interest for future applications in minimally invasive medicine, soft robotics, active metamaterials and smart surfaces. With current fabrication methods, shape-morphing configurations have been embedded into structural design by, for example, spatial distribution of heterogeneous materials, which cannot be altered once fabricated. 

FRS researchers present a classification model for sorting energy accidents in the natural gas sector into hazard classes, according to their potential fatalities.