Accessing Spin Liquid and Spin Stripe Phases in Distorted Triangular and Kagome Out-of-Plane Artificial Spin Ices

The triangular and kagome lattices are fundamental models in frustrated magnetism, where competing interactions produce complex phase diagrams and highly degenerate ground states. Breaking the symmetry of these lattices through distortion is expected to generate unusual phase diagrams, featuring both spin liquid and spin stripe regions, along with first-order transition lines [1, 2]. We realize these systems experimentally by arranging single-domain nanomagnets, made from Co/Pt multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, on the sites of the distorted triangular and kagome lattices. By imaging their magnetic states following a field demagnetization and comparing the results to Monte Carlo simulations, we identify clear signatures of the different types of magnetic order that emerge. These results establish distorted triangular and kagome artificial spin ices as a vehicle for realizing spin-liquid physics.

[1] Smerald et al., SciPost Phys. (2018)

[2] Pac. A et al., arXiv. 2503.08462 (2025)