Naked-eye visualization of geometric frustration effects in macroscopic spin ices

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that macroscopic artificial spin ice systems, made of large magnetic bars, visually exhibit geometrical frustration effects more clearly than microscopic counterparts, serving as accessible models for studying such phenomena.

Contribution

The study introduces macroscopic spin ice arrays that align closely with theoretical predictions, providing an easy-to-observe platform for geometrical frustration effects.

Findings

MASI systems match theoretical predictions better than micro/nano-scale counterparts

Naked-eye visualization of frustration effects is possible with MASI

MASI serves as an accessible prototype for studying geometrical frustration

Abstract

We study planar rectangular-like arrays composed by macroscopic dipoles (magnetic bars with size around a few centimeters) separated by lattice spacing a and b along each direction. Physical behavior of such macroscopic artificial spin ice (MASI) systems are shown to agree much better with theoretical prediction than their micro- or nano-scaled counterparts, making MASI "almost ideal prototypes" for readily naked-eye visualization of geometrical frustration effects.