Ferromagnetism and superconductivity strike a compromise

Ferromagnetism and superconductivity are two forms of long‐range order that may exist in a material at low temperature. When both are present, they compete with one another, and many have wondered under what conditions they might coexist. The answer has been emerging in recent years, primarily through studies of two materials in which a compromise settlement is reached. The latest in a series of experiments—this one on a single crystal—has confirmed and further elucidated the properties of the coexistence phase seen in earlier work: This phase seems to accommodate within a single crystal both superconducting regions with sinusoidally modulated magnetic moments and normal ferromagnetic domains.