Towards artificial Ising spin glasses: Thermal ordering in randomized arrays of Ising-type nanomagnets

Abstract

We explore the thermodynamics in two-dimensional arrays consisting of Ising-type nanomagnets lithographically arranged onto random sites and angular orientations. Introducing these basic spin-glass ingredients, we study the characteristic features of the low-energy states achieved, following thermal-annealing protocols. From direct visualization of real-time dynamics, we record relaxation timescales together with magnetic susceptibility variations over temperature, revealing trends towards short-range order as randomness is increased, but falling short of pure spin-glass behavior. Our work provides a route towards the realization of artificial Ising spin-glass systems.