Map showing magnetic flux lines for nickel nanoparticles.

'Dancing Triangles' are formed by sulfur atoms on a layer of copper, which in turn rests upon a base, or 'substrate' of ruthenium. Scientists at Brookhaven Lab will study this type of configuration to understand how metal behaves on top of another. Layered metals are often used as catalysts, such as those that clean pollutants from automobile exhaust in catalytic converters.