Physicists Discover Artificial Magnetic Monopoles: Magnets Redefined

Magnets always have a north and south pole. In fact, when they're divided, they created new opposing poles. A north without a south pole or a south pole without a north pole has yet to be discovered. But now, a team of physicists have managed to create a new type of artificial monopole in a solid; essentially, they've produced a type of pole that doesn't possess an opposing force on its opposite end.

In order to create this seeming contradiction, researchers merged tiny magnetic whirls, known as skyrmions. These whirls influence the movements of the electrons in exactly the same manner as magnetic fields. For this reason, artificial magnet fields are used to describe these whirls as well as their influence on the electrons. At the point of merging these skyrmions, the physicists were able to create a monopole.

Even if these are not "real" magnetic fields, it's still possible to measure them experimentally in the same manner as normal magnet fields as they deflect electrons. Although these skyrmions have been studied over the past few years, researchers wondered exactly what the consequences would be when it comes to destroying the magnetic whirls. In order to see what would happen, the researchers observed magnetic whirls with a magnetic force microscope. They were able to see on the surface that the magnetic whirls apparently coalesce when the skyrmion phase is destroyed.

Yet the researchers weren't satisfied with just knowing this. The scientists wanted to find out exactly what happened within the materials. They created computer simulations in order to find out. In the end, they discovered that the whirls neighboring the merging process observed on the surface in the experiment also occur within the materials.

Since each whirl carries an artificial magnetic field, their creation or destruction occurs at the point of merging. This means that an artificial magnetic monopole has to sit on this point. Essentially, whenever two magnetic whirls merge, an artificial magnetic monopole has flown through the surface.

"It is fascinating that something as fundamental as a magnetic monopole can be realized in a piece of material," said Stefan Buhrandt, one of the researchers, in a news release.

The findings have enormous implications for the use in fundamental research. In addition, they also have application potential. They could potentially be used in the production of computer components.

The findings are published in the journal Science.