{
  "id": 17592072,
  "title": "Breaking the ice: Scientists use attracting particles to form an anti-spin ice",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/01/breaking-the-ice-scientists-use-attracting-particles-to-form-an-anti",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-01T11:40:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ice-scientists-particles-anti.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a groundbreaking study published in Nature Communications, scientists have successfully created an \"anti-spin ice\" – a system that operates in opposition to conventional spin ices. The research, led by co-author Pietro Tierno from the University of Barcelona, sheds light on the intriguing behavior of magnetic systems that mimic the rules of water ice.\n\nSpin ice systems are characterized by the \"ice rule,\" which states that each oxygen atom should keep two hydrogen atoms close and two farther away. This rule leads to a disordered arrangement of hydrogen atoms, resulting in geometric frustration. In artificial spin ices, particles are arranged in arrays or colloids, following the ice rule. However, the researchers decided to explore what happens when these particles exhibit attractive interactions instead of repulsive ones.\n\nWhen the particles attract each other, they tend to cluster around certain vertices of the lattice and repel others. This behavior contradicts the ice rule, which seeks to minimize local topological charges. In the newly formed anti-spin ice, vertices with all four particles nearby would have a high positive charge (+4), while vertices with all four particles farther away would have a high negative charge (−4). These configurations are forbidden by the ice rule, leading to a system that maximizes local topological charges instead.\n\nTo create this unique system, the researchers used polystyrene particles embedded with iron oxide grains, which become magnetic when subjected to an external magnetic field. The particles were placed in a pentaheptite lattice, consisting of five- and seven-sided loops. In previous magnetic colloidal ices, particles repelled each other when the field was applied along the surface. However, by rapidly rotating the magnetic field in the plane of the surface, the researchers were able to make the particles attract each other, resulting in the formation of anti-spin ice.\n\nThe study's findings reveal that the ice rule, which has been the organizing principle behind most artificial spin ice research, plays a central role in governing the low-energy states of frustrated systems. By altering the sign of the pair interaction between particles, the researchers have opened up new possibilities for studying geometric frustration in engineered systems.",
  "summary": "In a recent Nature Communications study, researchers have reported the realization of an anti-spin ice, a system that does the opposite of conventional spin ices by breaking the ice rule that governs them.",
  "key_points": [
    "Scientists create anti-spin ice, opposite to conventional spin ices",
    "Attracting particles cluster and repel around lattice vertices",
    "Ice rule governs low-energy states of frustrated systems"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}