Miao L, Lee Y, Mei A B, Lawler M J, Shen K M
Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
Nat Commun. 2020 Mar 12;11(1):1341. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15213-z.
Magnetic monopoles have been proposed as emergent quasiparticles in pyrochlore spin ice compounds. However, unlike semiconductors and two-dimensional electron gases where the charge degree of freedom can be actively controlled by chemical doping, interface modulation, and electrostatic gating, there is as of yet no analogue of these effects for emergent magnetic monopoles. To date, all experimental investigations have been limited to large ensembles comprised of equal numbers of monopoles and antimonopoles in bulk crystals. To address these issues, we propose the formation of a two-dimensional magnetic monopole gas (2DMG) with a net magnetic charge, confined at the interface between a spin ice and an isostructural antiferromagnetic pyrochlore iridate and whose monopole density can be controlled by an external field. Our proposal is based on Monte Carlo simulations of the thermodynamic and transport properties. This proposed 2DMG should enable experiments and devices which can be performed on magnetic monopoles, akin to two-dimensional electron gases in semiconductor heterostructures.
磁单极子已被提出作为烧绿石自旋冰化合物中的涌现准粒子。然而，与半导体和二维电子气不同，在半导体和二维电子气中，电荷自由度可以通过化学掺杂、界面调制和静电门控来主动控制，对于涌现的磁单极子，目前还没有类似的效应。迄今为止，所有实验研究都局限于体晶体中由数量相等的磁单极子和反磁单极子组成的大集合。为了解决这些问题，我们提出形成一种具有净磁荷的二维磁单极子气体（2DMG），它被限制在自旋冰和同结构反铁磁烧绿石铱酸盐之间的界面处，其磁单极子密度可以由外部场控制。我们的提议基于对热力学和输运性质的蒙特卡罗模拟。这种提议的2DMG应该能够实现类似于半导体异质结构中的二维电子气那样在磁单极子上进行的实验和器件。
