The properties of new data storage systems for highly efficient computers are based on magnetism. A basic knowledge of these properties is gained by examining simple model systems, like the one-dimensional spin ladders. The scientists led by Balint Nafradi examined a spin ladder in the thermal neutron beam of the spectrometer TRISP. The spectrometer can enhance the energy resolution by about two orders of magnitude by taking advantage of the Larmor precession of neutron spins.

The results of the scientists from Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, the Kogoshima University in Japan and the Laboratory for Solid State Physics in Zürich show a great discrepancy in comparison to the existing theory about the properties of the spin ladder. They help to better understand these important materials.

Original publication:
Low-Temperature Dynamics of Magnons in a Spin-1/2 Ladder Compound,
B. Náfrádi, T. Keller, H. Manaka, A. Zheludev and B. Keimer,
Physical Review Letters, 106, 177202 (2011), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.177202