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Lattice structure of antiferromagnetic mott insulators
Antiferromagnetic mott insulators -- magnetic materials in which the electron spins are aligned in a repeating stable pattern -- contain electrons (orbs) that are organized in lattice structures of atoms so that their spins point up (blue) or down (pink) in an alternating pattern. However, when this material is hit with light, an electron will hop to a neighboring atomic site, leaving a positively charged hole where it once resided (dark orb).
[Research supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation grants PHY 1733907 and DMR 1729489.]
Learn more in the Caltech news story Physicists find evidence for magnetically bound excitons. (Date of image: 2023; date originally posted to NSF Multimedia Gallery: Oct. 27, 2023)
Credit: Caltech
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