Science Daily March 16, 2021 A team of researchers in the US (Michigan Technological University, Iowa State University) used a predictive quantum many-body theory that considers electron-electron interactions. The team found that chromium-doped nanowires with a germanium core and silicon shell can be an antiferromagnetic semiconductor. The origin of antiferromagnetic spin alignments between Cr is attributed to the super exchange interaction mediated by the pz orbitals of the Ge atoms that are bonded to Cr. A weak spin–orbit interaction in this material, suggested a longer spin coherence length. The spin-dependent quantum transport calculations in the Cr-doped nanowire junction revealed a […]
Tag Archives: Data storage
Magnetic whirls in confined spaces
Nanowerk March 4, 2021 An international team of researchers (Germany, China) experimentally probed the dramatic influence of confinement on diffusion and study the skyrmion diffusion in confined geometries varying both the symmetry of the elements and the number of skyrmions within the element, studying the evolution from a sparse population to a fully lattice‐like situation and skyrmion population. In the triangular geometry, they found that the dynamics varies drastically for numbers of skyrmions that can form a regular order, thus being commensurate with the geometry, as compared to numbers of skyrmions that are incommensurate with the geometry. The findings confirm experimentally […]
Light used to detect quantum information stored in 100,000 nuclear quantum bits
Phys.org February 15, 2021 An international team of researchers (UK, France) injected a ‘needle’ of highly fragile quantum information in a ‘haystack’ of 100,000 nuclei. By using lasers to control an electron, they could use that electron to control the behavior of the haystack, making it easier to find the needle. By controlling the collective state of the 100,000 nuclei, they were able to detect the existence of the quantum information as a ‘flipped quantum bit’ at an ultra-high precision of 1.9 parts per million: enough to see a single bit flip in the cloud of nuclei. Using this technique, […]
Skyrmions proposed as the basis for a completely new computer architecture
Phys.org December 21, 2020 Materials hosting magnetic skyrmions at room temperature could enable compact and energetically efficient storage such as racetrack memories. However, avoiding modifications of the inter-skyrmion distances remains challenging. An international team of researchers (Switzerland, Greece, Austria, Italy) has demonstrated that a hybrid ferro/ferri/ferromagnetic multilayer system can host two distinct skyrmion phases at room temperature, namely tubular and partial skyrmions. Furthermore, the tubular skyrmion can be converted into a partial skyrmion. Such systems may serve as a platform for designing memory applications using distinct skyrmion types…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Physicists discover new magnetoelectric effect
Science Daily September 14, 2020 An international team of researchers (Austria, Russia, the Netherlands) found that in langasite made of lanthanum, gallium, silicon and oxygen, doped with holmium atoms even small changes in the direction of the magnetic field can switch the electrical properties of the material to a completely different state even though it has a crystal structure that is so symmetrical that it should actually not allow any magnetoelectric effect for theoretical reasons. In the case of weak magnetic fields there is no coupling whatsoever with the electrical properties of the crystal. But if the strength of the […]
Study reveals magnetic process that can lead to more energy-efficient memory in computers
Science Daily June 30, 2020 Magnetic memory and logic devices that use skyrmions rely on current-controlled motion of skyrmions. A team of researchers in the US (Virginia Commonwealth University, UCLA) has shown that using skyrmions that are fixed in space could lead to more compact and energy-efficient devices. They manipulated fixed magnetic skyrmions using voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy to show that skyrmions can be stabilized in antiferromagnet/ferromagnet/oxide heterostructure films without any external magnetic field due to an exchange bias field. The isolated skyrmions are annihilated or formed by applying voltage pulses and skyrmions can be created from chiral domains by increasing […]
Scientists take steps to create a ‘racetrack memory,’ potentially enhancing data storage
Science Daily May 5, 2020 A team of researchers in US ( New York University, University of Virginia, NIST, University of Colorado, Boulder) are working to supplant current methods of mass data storage with a skyrmion racetrack memory which reconfigures magnetic fields in innovative ways. It has improved density of information storage, faster operation, and lower energy use. Skyrmions can be moved by applying an external stimulus, such as a current pulse. They are only stable in very specific material environments, so identifying the ideal materials that can host skyrmions and the circumstances under which they are created is a […]
Magnetic whirls in future data storage devices
Eurekalert March 3, 2020 Researchers in Germany discovered that skyrmions and antiskyrmions are stabilized in different materials by a magnetic interaction that is directly tied to the structure of the host material. However, what was previously overlooked is that the magnetic dipoles also significantly interact with each other via their dipole-dipole interaction. This interaction always prefers skyrmions. For this reason, even “antiskyrmion materials” can exhibit skyrmions (but not vice versa). This happens preferably as the temperature is lowered. At a critical transition temperature, the two distinct objects coexist. The finding allows for an advanced version of the racetrack memory data […]
Light may increase magnetic memory speeds 1000 times, decrease electricity consumption
Phys.org July 11, 2019 To reduce energy consumption in magnetic memory devices and improve their speeds, a team of researchers in the US (NIST, University of Colorado, University of Oregon) has developed a method that uses optics through localized surface plasmon resonances to couple light to nanomagnets and produce faster spintronic devices switching speeds and potential lower energy consumption. The method could ultimately lead to memory writing speeds that are 1,000 times faster than current ones…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Discovery of a ‘holy grail’ with the invention of universal computer memory
EurekAlert June 20, 2019 An international team of researchers (UK, Spain) has developed an oxide-free, floating-gate memory cell based on II-V semiconductor heterostructures with a junctionless channel and non-destructive read of the stored data. While writing data to DRAM is fast and low energy, the data is volatile and must be continuously ‘refreshed’ to avoid it being lost. This is clearly inconvenient and inefficient. Flash stores data robustly, but writing and erasing is slow, energy intensive and deteriorates data, making it unsuitable for working memory. The new device combines the advantages of both without their drawbacks…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL […]