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Scientists have identified a previously unknown quantum state of matter at the boundary between two unusual materials. The state, described as a quantum liquid crystal, was found in a structure made by combining a conducting material called a Weyl semimetal with an insulating magnetic material known as spin ice.
The findings, reported in Science Advances, show that bringing these two materials together can produce behavior that is not seen when they are studied separately. The researchers observed the new behavior at extremely low temperatures and under very high magnetic fields.
The two materials used in the experiment were the Weyl semimetal Eu₂Ir₂O₇ (pyrochlore iridate oxide) and the spin ice Dy₂Ti₂O₇ (dysprosium titanate). Both belong to a family of materials called magnetic pyrochlores, which can have unusual electronic and magnetic properties.
Weyl semimetals are materials in which electrons behave in unusual ways because of special particle-like excitations called Weyl fermions. Weyl fermions are a type of quasiparticle, a particle-like disturbance that helps scientists describe the combined behavior of many interacting particles.
