Solid and Liquid Oxygen under Ultrahigh Magnetic Fields

Abstract

Oxygen is a unique molecule that possesses a spin quantum number S=1. In the condensed phases of oxygen, the delicate balance between the antiferromagnetic interaction and van der Waals force results in the various phases with different crystal structures. By applying ultrahigh magnetic fields, the antiferromagnetic coupling between O2 molecules breaks, and novel high-field phases can appear. We have investigated the physical properties of condensed oxygen under ultrahigh magnetic fields and have found that the stable crystal structure of solid oxygen changes around 100 T. Even in liquid oxygen, we observed a strong acoustic attenuation, which indicates the fluctuation of local molecular arrangements. These results demonstrate that magnetic fields can modulate the packing structure of oxygen through spin-lattice coupling. Our study implies the possibility of controlling oxygen-related (bio-)chemical processes by using an external magnetic field.