Direct observation of the mystery of 'hidden order' in condensed-matter physics
Wednesday, June 25, 2014 - 03:30
in Physics & Chemistry
The research team of Professor Takasada Shibauchi and Assitant Professor Yuta Mizukami in the Department of Advanced Materials Science at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Frontier Sciences and Professor Yuji Matsuda in the Kyoto University Graduate School of Science have observed directly that the crystal structure in the enigmatic "hidden order" phase of the uranium compound URu2Si2 is slightly deformed to an orthorhombic (diamond-like) shape with twofold rotational symmetry by ultra-high resolution synchrotron crystal-structure analysis at the Spring-8 synchrotron radiation facility.