Physicists Detect 'Octupolar' Magnetism Using Light

A team led by University of Toronto physicists developed a method to observe hidden quantum magnetic states by shining rotating light on materials and probing atomic vibrations from electron spins. Published in Physical Review Letters, the work is a first step toward using higher-order magnets in data storage and quantum computing.

• Octupolar order behaves like a magnet with eight poles instead of two
• The method uses rotating light to reveal an optical fingerprint of hidden order
• Findings could enable controllable read-write memory elements
• Study published in Physical Review Letters