Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Quantum materials

Imaging the twist of antiferromagnetic merons in a blood-red iron oxide

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Materials

View current issue Submit your manuscript

The antiferromagnetic material haematite, named for its blood-red colour, hosts swirling spin vortices termed merons. The rotation sense of such antiferromagnetic vortices has now been imaged in real space.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: Antiferromagnetic meron and antimeron vortices of the Néel vector in α-Fe2O3.

References

  1. Smejkal, L. et al. Nat. Rev. Mater. 7, 482–496 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Zhang, X. et al. Sci. Rep. 6, 24795 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Tan, A. K. C. et al. Nat. Mater. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-023-01737-4 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Amin, O. J. et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. 18, 849–853 (2023).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Grollier, J. et al. Nat. Electron. 3, 360–370 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Xia, J. et al. Commun. Mater. 3, 88 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Zhang, S. & Li, Z. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 127204 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Tatara, G. et al. J. Phys. Soc. Jpn 76, 054707 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hayami, S. et al. Nat. Commun. 12, 6927 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Kurumaji, T. et al. Science 365, 914–918 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Weber, T. et al. Science 375, 1025–1030 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Nagaosa, N. Jpn J. Appl. Phys. 58, 120909 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Kurebayashi, D. & Nagaosa, N. Commun. Phys. 4, 260 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge helpful comments from J. Masell (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Leonie Spitz

  2. Department of Applied Physics and Quantum-Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Max Hirschberger

  3. RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, Wakoshi, Japan

    Max Hirschberger

Authors
  1. Leonie Spitz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Max Hirschberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Max Hirschberger.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Spitz, L., Hirschberger, M. Imaging the twist of antiferromagnetic merons in a blood-red iron oxide. Nat. Mater. 23, 176–177 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-023-01768-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-023-01768-x

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation