A massive part of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Spallation Neutron Source during its construction phase in earlier years. The hole in the center is where the target crystal for neutron scattering is placed.
The tiny YbMgGaO4 crystal, here perched on a stand for testing, appears to be the next extremely rare material to house an equally as rare observable quantum spin liquid.
Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory / Jill Hemman
Artist's depiction of electron spins in the ytterbium crystal lattice (formula YbMgGaO4) at different phases of the experiment that detected strong signs of an observable quantum spin liquid appearing at near absolute zero.
An accelerator brings protons to near light speed before they trigger a neutron stream that is fired at the material being investigated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Spallation Neutron Source.