A research team from the University of Texas at Austin in the United States discovered that an ultrathin two-dimensional magnetic material exhibits two rare magnetic states sequentially during the cooling process, fully verifying for the first time the two-dimensional 'six-state clock model' proposed in the 1970s. This study provides important experimental evidence for research on two-dimensional magnetism and nanoscale magnetic structures, and may inspire the development of future ultra-compact technologies. The related findings have been published in the journal Nature Materials.
