Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Overview

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Overview

NMR-active nuclei have energy levels called 'spin states' that are associated with the orientations of their nuclear magnetic moments. In the absence of a magnetic field, the nuclear magnetic moments are randomly oriented, and the spin states are degenerate. When an external magnetic field is applied, the spin states have only 2 + 1 orientations available to them. A proton with = ½ has two available orientations. Similarly, for a quadrupolar nucleus with a nuclear spin value of...

Ferromagnetism

Ferromagnetism

Materials like iron, nickel, and cobalt consist of magnetic domains, within which the magnetic dipoles are arranged parallel to each other. The magnetic dipoles are rigidly aligned in the same direction within a domain by quantum mechanical coupling among the atoms. This coupling is so strong that even thermal agitation at room temperature cannot break it. The result is that each domain has a net dipole moment. However, some materials have weaker coupling, and are ferromagnetic at lower...

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution

Near absolute zero temperatures, in the presence of a magnetic field, the majority of nuclei prefer the lower energy spin-up state to the higher energy spin-down state. As temperatures increase, the energy from thermal collisions distributes the spins more equally between the two states. The Boltzmann distribution equation gives the ratio of the number of spins predicted in the spin −½ (N−) and spin +½ (N+) states.

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes

In the absence of an external magnetic field, nuclear spin states are degenerate and randomly oriented. When a magnetic field is applied, the spins begin to precess and orient themselves along (lower energy) or against (higher energy) the direction of the field. At equilibrium, a slight excess population of spins exists in the lower energy state. Because the direction of the magnetic field is fixed as the z-axis, the precessing magnetic moments are randomly oriented around the z-axis.

Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions

Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions

An electric field suffers a discontinuity at a surface charge. Similarly, a magnetic field is discontinuous at a surface current. The perpendicular component of a magnetic field is continuous across the interface of two magnetic mediums. In contrast, its parallel component, perpendicular to the current, is discontinuous by the amount equal to the product of the vacuum permeability and the surface current. Like the scalar potential in electrostatics, the vector potential is also continuous...

Spin–Spin Coupling Constant: Overview

Spin–Spin Coupling Constant: Overview

In bromoethane, the three methyl protons are coupled to the two methylene protons that are three bonds away. In accordance with the n+1 rule, the signal from the methyl protons is split into three peaks with 1:2:1 relative intensities. The methylene protons appear as a quartet, with the relative intensities of 1:3:3:1.
Qualitatively, any spin plus-half nucleus polarizes the spins of its electrons to the minus-half state. Consequently, the paired electron in the hydrogen–carbon bond must...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

A high-endurance DNA origami snap-through switch for functional nanoscale control.

Science robotics·2026

Same author

CNN-based classifier for automated identification of magnetic states in spin dynamics simulations.

Scientific reports·2026

Same author

Diagnostic Value of Glycocalyx Shedding in Blood for Differentiating between Parkinson's Disease and Multiple System Atrophy.

Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society·2026

Same author

Electric-Current-Assisted Nucleation of Zero-Field Hopfion Rings.

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)·2026

Same author

Rare-Earth Atoms on Nb(110) as a Platform to Engineer Topological Superconductivity.

Nano letters·2026

Same author

Hydrogen Toggling between Yoshimori Spin Spirals and Elliptical Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Skyrmions in Fe on Ir(110).

Nano letters·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 7, 2025

Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope

Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope

Published on: March 24, 2019

Spin Spiral State at a Ferromagnetic Gd Vacuum Interface.

Patrick Härtl¹, Matthias Vogt¹, Markus Leisegang¹

¹Physikalisches Institut, Experimentelle Physik II, <a href="https://ror.org/00fbnyb24">Universität Würzburg</a>, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.

Physical Review Letters

|November 15, 2024

Summary

Researchers observed a 2 nm spin spiral state on the Gadolinium (Gd) surface using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy. This magnetic state arises from competing exchange interactions in the Gd monolayer.

More Related Videos

Scanning SQUID Study of Vortex Manipulation by Local Contact

Scanning SQUID Study of Vortex Manipulation by Local Contact

Published on: February 1, 2017

Optimizing Magnetic Force Microscopy Resolution and Sensitivity to Visualize Nanoscale Magnetic Domains

Optimizing Magnetic Force Microscopy Resolution and Sensitivity to Visualize Nanoscale Magnetic Domains

Published on: July 20, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 7, 2025

Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope

Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope

Published on: March 24, 2019

Scanning SQUID Study of Vortex Manipulation by Local Contact

Scanning SQUID Study of Vortex Manipulation by Local Contact

Published on: February 1, 2017

Optimizing Magnetic Force Microscopy Resolution and Sensitivity to Visualize Nanoscale Magnetic Domains

Optimizing Magnetic Force Microscopy Resolution and Sensitivity to Visualize Nanoscale Magnetic Domains

Published on: July 20, 2022

Area of Science:

Condensed Matter Physics
Surface Science
Magnetism

Background:

Layered Gadolinium (Gd) intermetallics exhibit bulk helical spin spirals and skyrmion lattices.
Understanding surface magnetic states is crucial for novel spintronic applications.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate and characterize the magnetic spin state at the Gd(0001) surface.
To elucidate the underlying mechanisms driving the observed surface magnetism.

Main Methods:

Spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (SP-STM) was employed to image the surface.
External magnetic fields were applied to probe the magnetic nature of the observed structures.
Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to model the electronic and magnetic properties.

Main Results:

SP-STM images revealed striped regions with a periodicity of approximately 2 nm on the Gd(0001) surface.
These striped patterns rearranged in response to an external magnetic field, confirming their magnetic origin.
DFT calculations indicated that competing exchange interactions within the Gd surface layer favor a chiral 2 nm conical spin spiral.

Conclusions:

A distinct 2 nm spin spiral state exists at the Gd(0001) surface.
This surface spin spiral arises from intrinsic properties of the Gd monolayer, influenced by inter-layer magnetic coupling.
The findings contribute to the understanding of magnetism in low-dimensional Gadolinium systems.