X-ray Diffraction by Magnetic Charges (Monopoles)

Magnetic charges, or magnetic monopoles, may form in the electronic structure of magnetic materials where ions are deprived of symmetry with respect to spatial inversion. Predicted in 2009, the strange magnetic, pseudo-scalars have recently been found different from zero in simulations of electronic structures of some magnetically ordered, orthorhombic, lithium orthophosphates (LiMPO4). We prove that magnetic charges in lithium orthophosphates diffract x-rays tuned in energy to an atomic resonance, by calculating exact unit-cell structure factors for monoclinic LiCoPO4 and orthorhombic LiNiPO4.