2007/07/27 by Guangyong Xu, C. Broholm, Yeong-Ah Soh +11 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Antiferromagnetism #Coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) #Coherence length #Coherence time #Condensed matter physics #Degree of coherence #Magnetic properties of thin films #Mesoscopic physics #Neutron scattering #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum #Quantum mechanics #Scattering #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.1143831
published as Science 317, 1049 (2007)
openalex publication_date 2007/07/27 · arxiv created 2008/04/02 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Mesoscopic quantum phase coherence is important because it improves the prospects for handling quantum degrees of freedom in technology. Here we show that the development of such coherence can be monitored using magnetic neutron scattering from a one-dimensional spin chain of an oxide of nickel (Y2BaNiO5), a quantum spin fluid in which no classical static magnetic order is present. In the cleanest samples, the quantum coherence length is 20 nanometers, which is almost an order of magnitude larger than the classical antiferromagnetic correlation length of 3 nanometers. We also demonstrate that the coherence length can be modified by static and thermally activated defects in a quantitatively predictable manner.