https://www.aalto.fi/en/news/research-group-detects-a-quantum-entanglement-wave-for-the-first-time-using-real-space-measurements Skip to main content * Apply to Aalto * Support us * * EN + FI Suomeksi + SV Svenska + EN English * Search * Log in * Menu Close menu + Student Guide + For personnel + Aalto community members please log in to see internal content + Admissions and studies Apply to Aalto Find a study programme How to apply Scholarships and tuition fees Bachelor's admissions Master's admissions Doctoral admissions Campus life Events for applicants Chat with students Subscribe to newsletter Contact admission services Lifewide Learning Exchange students + Research and art About our research and art Tenure track career system Doctoral education Research and learning infrastructures Research portal research.aalto.fi Rankings + Schools and departments Schools School of Arts, Design and Architecture School of Business School of Chemical Engineering School of Electrical Engineering School of Engineering School of Science Departments Accounting & Business Law Applied Physics Architecture Art and Media Bioproducts and Biosystems Built Environment Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Chemistry and Materials Science Civil Engineering Computer Science Design Economics Electrical Engineering and Automation Electronics and Nanoengineering Film, Television and Scenography Finance Industrial Engineering and Management Information and Communications Engineering Information and Service Management Management Studies Marketing Mathematics and Systems Analysis Mechanical Engineering Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering + Collaboration Collaborate with us For alumni Corporate collaboration Aalto networking platform Entrepreneurship and innovations International collaboration Collaboration with cities and regions Support us + News and events Highlights News Events Aalto University Magazine OurBlogs Podcasts For the media + About us About Aalto University Our strategy Sustainability Code of Conduct Aalto Handbook Campus People and contact information Careers + Tools and services All tools (requires login) All services Most used tools Ada Asio (booking.aalto.fi) Halli MOT Kielipalvelu (language service) Neo People hub Phone book Qlikview Rondo Tiima Webmail Workday Most used services HR services IT Help Learning services Library - Learning Centre Occupational health Printing Research and innovation services Teaching and learning services Travel services For students Sisu MyCourses MyStudies Browse all courses Other Aalto Space Aalto University Shop Brand library Lunch menus Safety and emergencies Emergencies Incident report + EN + FI + SV + Apply to Aalto + Support us + Student Guide + For personnel + Aalto community members please log in to see internal content + Log in Search News Research group detects a quantum entanglement wave for the first time using real-space measurements Published: 23.8.2023 A team from Aalto University and the University of Jyvaskyla have created an artificial quantum magnet featuring a quasiparticle made of entangled electrons, the triplon Green spheres with arrows showing magnetic excitations. Artistic illustration depicts magnetic excitations of cobalt-phthalocyanine molecules, where entangled electrons propagate into triplons. Credit: Jose Lado/Aalto University Triplons are tricky little things. Experimentally, they're exceedingly difficult to observe. And even then, researchers usually conduct the tests on macroscopic materials, in which measurements are expressed as an average across the whole sample. That's where designer quantum materials offer a unique advantage, says Academy Research Fellow Robert Drost, the first author of a paper published in Physical Review Letters on August 22. These designer quantum materials let researchers create phenomena not found in natural compounds, ultimately enabling the realization of exotic quantum excitations. 'These materials are very complex. They give you very exciting physics, but the most exotic ones are also challenging to find and study. So, we are trying a different approach here by building an artificial material using individual components,' says Professor Peter Liljeroth, head of the Atomic Scale physics research group at Aalto University. Quantum materials are governed by the interactions between electrons at the microscopic level. These electronic correlations lead to unusual phenomena like high-temperature superconductivity or complex magnetic states, and quantum correlations give rise to new electronic states. In the case of two electrons, there are two entangled states known as singlet and triplet states. Supplying energy to the electron system can excite it from the singlet to the triplet state. In some cases, this excitation can propagate through a material in an entanglement wave known as a triplon. These excitations are not present in conventional magnetic materials, and measuring them has remained an open challenge in quantum materials. The team's triplon experiments In the new study, the team used small organic molecules to create an artificial quantum material with unusual magnetic properties. Each of the cobalt-phthalocyanine molecules used in the experiment contains two frontier electrons. 'Using very simple molecular building blocks, we are able to engineer and probe this complex quantum magnet in a way that has never been done before, revealing phenomena not found in its independent parts,' Drost says. 'While magnetic excitations in isolated atoms have long been observed using scanning tunnelling spectroscopy, it has never been accomplished with propagating triplons.' 'We use these molecules to bundle electrons together, we pack them into a tight space and force them to interact,' continues Drost. 'Looking into such a molecule from the outside, we will see the joint physics of both electrons. Because our fundamental building block now contains two electrons, rather than one, we see a very different kind of physics.' The team monitored magnetic excitations first in individual cobalt-phthalocyanine molecules and later in larger structures like molecular chains and islands. By starting with the very simple and working towards increasing complexity, the researchers hope to understand emergent behaviour in quantum materials. In the present study, the team could demonstrate that the singlet-triplet excitations of their building blocks can traverse molecular networks as exotic magnetic quasiparticles known as triplons. 'We show that we can create an exotic quantum magnetic excitation in an artificial material. This strategy shows that we can rationally design material platforms that open up new possibilities in quantum technologies,' says Assistant Professor Jose Lado, one of the study's co-authors, who heads the Correlated Quantum Materials research group at Aalto University. The team plans to extend their approach towards more complex building blocks to design other exotic magnetic excitations and ordering in quantum materials. Rational design from simple ingredients will not only help understand the complex physics of correlated electron systems but also establish new platforms for designer quantum materials. Robert Drost Academy Research Fellow [email protected] Peter Liljeroth Academy Professor Department of Applied Physics [email protected] +358503636115 Jose Lado Jose Lado Assistant Professor T304 Dept. Applied Physics [email protected] +358503133730 Affiliated groups group photo Atomic Scale Physics We focus on the experimental study of nanostructures, where the precise nature and location of every atom matters. Department of Applied Physics HF TTG Correlated Quantum Materials (CQM) Correlated Quantum Materials Group (CQM) Department of Applied Physics InstituteQ. Photo: Jorden Senior. InstituteQ - The Finnish Quantum Institute InstituteQ coordinates quantum technology research, education and innovation across Finland Research & Art * Published: 23.8.2023 * Updated: 23.8.2023 Read more news See all The image shows a jar of coins with a green plant growing from it. Text Unite! Seed Fund 2023. Cooperation, Research & Art Published: 25.8.2023 Unite! Seed Fund Awards Funding to Eight Applications with Aalto University's Involvement Unite! Seed Fund supports bottom-up proposals from teachers, researchers and students. Design Education Across Disciplines book, Photo by Valeria Azovskaya, 2023 Press releases Published: 23.8.2023 Design Education Across Disciplines: the new book from Aalto University experts has been published! The new book by Miikka J. Lehtonen, Tomi Kauppinen and Laura Sivula shares and discusses a diverse range of inclusive methods for how design engages learners. Teresa Rissi and her team member, photo from Teresa Rissi archive Studies Published: 22.8.2023 How could Augmented Reality change the learning experience on campus? Online Hybrid Lab welcomes its new member, Teresa Rizzi. As a member of Online Hybrid Team, Teresa is doing her internship and working on her master thesis about Augmented Reality from a User Experience designer point of view. Aalto-yliopistossa tehdaan monialaista 5G-tutkimusta verkkotekniikasta ja signaalinkasittelysta aina 5G:ta hyodyntaviin sovelluksiin. Kuva: Aalto-yliopisto / Mikko Raskinen Research & Art Published: 18.8.2023 The IoT connection, which utilizes the energy and infrastructure of the mobile phone network, enables the development of new services Aalto University has developed the first prototype of an Ambient Internet of Things (AIoT) system operating in a mobile phone network, which enables a very energy- and cost-effective data transfer method for Internet of Things applications. See all 1. Home 2. 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