Physicists create quasi-particles from light and magnets

Physicists from the City College of New York and Austin Technical University reported the discovery of a new

type of magnetic quasiparticles. They were created by combining light with a stack of ultra-thin two-dimensional magnets.

In their work, the researchers usedan optical resonator for realizing the interaction between light and the van der Waals antiferromagnet NiPS 3. During the experiment, scientists noted a previously unobserved class of polariton quasiparticles. They arise due to the strong coupling between the spin-correlated excitons of matter and photons inside the microresonator.

Spin-correlated polaritons in an optical cavity. Image: Rezlind Bushati

Recall that a polariton is a composite quasiparticle,arising from the interaction of photons with elementary excitations of the medium. The strong coupling between light and elementary excitations becomes a powerful tool for developing the properties of solid-state systems, the scientists say.

Development of the technology used inexperiment, opens the way to controlled magneto-optical effects, the authors of the work add. And this, in turn, will help in the creation of new materials, types of lasers and data storage systems.

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