Defect Dynamics in Artificial Colloidal Ice: Real-Time Observation, Manipulation and Logic Gate

Abstract

We study the defect dynamics in a colloidal spin ice system realized by filling a square lattice of topographic double well islands with repulsively interacting magnetic colloids. We focus on the contraction of defects in the ground state, and contraction/expansion in a metastable biased state. Combining real-time experiments with simulations, we prove that these defects behave like emergent topological monopoles obeying a Coulomb law with an additional line tension. We further show how to realize a completely resettable "NOR" gate, which provides guidelines for fabrication of nanoscale logic devices based on the motion of topological magnetic monopoles.

References in corpus (6)

• Artificial "spin ice" in a geometrically frustrated lattice of nanoscale ferromagnetic islands
• Geometric Frustration in Buckled Colloidal Monolayers
• Realizing Colloidal Artificial Ice on Arrays of Optical Traps
• Magnetic monopole and string excitations in a two-dimensional spin ice
• From confinement to deconfinement of magnetic monopoles in artificial rectangular spin ices
• Nambu monopoles interacting with lattice defects in two-dimensional artificial square spin ice

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Ice Rule and Emergent Frustration in Particle Ice and Beyond
• Membrane penetration and trapping of an active particle
• The Inner Phases of Colloidal Hexagonal Ice
• Triple junction at the triple point resolved on the individual particle level
• Competing orders for the colloidal kagome ice: the importance of in-trap motion of the particles