Physics Department News
Tiny electrical vortexes bridge gap between ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials
Detailed in a new study for the journal Nature, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, and the Royal Society, the results give the first evidence of a process in ferroelectric materials comparable to the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in ferromagnets. This particular interaction plays a pivotal role in stabilising topological magnetic structures, such as skyrmions, and it might be crucial for potential new electronic technologies exploiting their electrical analogues.
Why are we seeing more northern lights this year?
Spectacular auroral displays have been seen in the sky in more places this year, with greater frequency. Professor Sandra Chapman, Head of Centre for Fusion Space and Astrophysics answers the question in The Conversation.
Controlling antiferromagnetic domains and observing an electronic response to magnetic monopole density in a spin-ice iridate
New research shows that the magnetoresistance in a pyrochlore spin ice can be used as a measure of monopole density and demonstrates magnetic-field control of antiferromagnetic iridium domain walls.
Professor Sandra Chapman awarded the 2022 Chapman Medal
Congratulations to Professor Sandra Chapman, who leads the Centre for Fusion Space and Astrophysics on receiving the 2022 Chapman Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society. Professor Chapman received this award for 'paradigm shifting' research into the physics of the solar wind and magnetosphere, our near-earth plasma environment.