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  • Review Article
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Advances in artificial spin ice

Nature Reviews Physics volume 2, pages 13–28 (2020)Cite this article

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 12 January 2024

An Author Correction to this article was published on 20 January 2020

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Abstract

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. Artificial spin ices also show promise as reprogrammable magnonic crystals and, with this in mind, we give an overview of the measurements of fast dynamics in these magnetic metamaterials. We survey the variety of geometries that have been implemented, in terms of both the form of the nanomagnets and the lattices on which they are placed, including quasicrystalline systems and artificial spin systems in 3D. Different magnetic materials can also be incorporated to modify anisotropies and blocking temperatures, for example. With this large variety of systems, the way is open to discover new phenomena, and we complete this Review with possible directions for the future.

Key points

  • Artificial spin ices are metamaterials made up of coupled nanomagnets arranged on different lattices that exhibit a number of interesting phenomena, such as emergent magnetic monopoles, collective dynamics and phase transitions.

  • The motion of emergent magnetic monopoles in an artificial spin system can be controlled with external stimuli such as magnetic and electric fields, strain, temperature gradients and electric currents, which is of potential interest for future devices.

  • The ability to create thermally active artificial spin ices with fluctuating moments at room temperature makes it possible to explore the rich phase diagrams with phases that are determined by the geometry, temperature and disorder.

  • Signatures of the magnetic configurations are given by the specific spin-wave resonances in artificial spin ice, which offer a platform for programmable spin-wave devices, in particular magnonic crystals.

  • The established artificial spin ices consist of elongated nanoscale magnets arranged on the square and the kagome lattices, but these have now diversified. New geometries include different lattices, not only periodic but also aperiodic, different magnet shapes and anisotropies, and 3D structures.

  • Future work involves developments in fabrication and characterization methods, the study of artificial spin systems with new geometries and combinations of materials, and the development of applications including computation, data storage, encryption and reconfigurable microwave circuits.

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Fig. 1: Square and kagome artificial spin ice.
Fig. 2: Propagation and chirality of monopole-like magnetic charges in artificial square and kagome ice.
Fig. 3: Magnetic order and phase transitions.
Fig. 4: Fast dynamics in square and kagome artificial spin ices.
Fig. 5: Experimental realizations of selected artificial spin-ice geometries.
Fig. 6: The key directions for future research in artificial spin ice are interlinked.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful for the important insights from P. M. Derlet, H.-B. Braun, D. Grundler, V. Scagnoli, K. Hofhuis and Q. N. Meier, which were of great value in the preparation of this manuscript. L.J.H. and S.H.S. acknowledge financial support provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation, grant no. 200020_172774.

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Nature Reviews Physics thanks C. Nisoli, B. Hjörvarsson and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Mesoscopic Systems, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Sandra H. Skjærvø & Laura J. Heyderman

  2. Laboratory for Multiscale Materials Experiments, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland

    Sandra H. Skjærvø & Laura J. Heyderman

  3. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Christopher H. Marrows

  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Robert L. Stamps

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Skjærvø, S.H., Marrows, C.H., Stamps, R.L. et al. Advances in artificial spin ice. Nat Rev Phys 2, 13–28 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-019-0118-3

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