2018/06/08 by Yong-Lei Wang, Xiaoyu Ma, Jing Xu +9 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Condensed matter physics #Degenerate energy levels #Electron #Frustration #Magnetic field #Magnetic flux #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spin ice #Superconductivity #Theoretical and Computational Physics #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41565-018-0162-7
published as Nature Nanotechnology 13, 560 (2018) · 32 pages, 14 figures
openalex publication_date 2018/06/08 · arxiv created 2018/07/31 · arxiv updated 2018/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Geometric frustration emerges when local interaction energies in an ordered lattice structure cannot be simultaneously minimized, resulting in a large number of degenerate states. The numerous degenerate configurations may lead to practical applications in microelectronics, such as data storage, memory and logic. However, it is difficult to achieve extensive degeneracy, especially in a two-dimensional system. Here, we showcase in-situ controllable geometric frustration with massive degeneracy in a two-dimensional flux quantum system. We create this in a superconducting thin film placed underneath a reconfigurable artificial-spin-ice structure. The tunable magnetic charges in the artificial-spin-ice strongly interact with the flux quanta in the superconductor, enabling the switching between frustrated and crystallized flux quanta states. The different states have measurable effects on the superconducting critical current profile, which can be reconfigured by precise selection of the spin ice magnetic state through application of an external magnetic field. We demonstrate the applicability of these effects by realizing a reprogrammable flux quanta diode. The tailoring of the energy landscape of interacting 'particles' using artificial-spin-ices provides a new paradigm for the design of geometric frustration, which allows us to control new functionalities in other material systems, such as magnetic skyrmions, electrons/holes in two-dimensional materials and topological insulators, as well as colloids in soft materials.