Spin glasses and superspin glasses

The research

Spin glasses are non equilibrium systems with specific magnetic properties [1,2]. For example after a rapid cooling of a material into its glassy phase, the magnetization of a spin glass will evolve with time in a characteristic way, as a consequence of the slow reorganization of its spin configuration triggered by the temperature perturbation [1]. Spin glasses may hence "age", but also "remember" (memory effects) and "forget" (rejuvenation effects) at the same time [1] and specific measurement protocols are required to investigate their dynamical properties [1] and phase transitions [2] .

Interestingly, glassy effects and spin glass phases are ubiquitous and observed in a wide variety of materials [2], from metallic alloys to transition metal / strongly correlated oxides, geometrically frustrated systems, magnetic quasicrystals, and chiral-glass superconductors. They also appear in e.g. dipolarly interacting magnetic nanoparticle systems; defining superspins and superspin glasses [1].