Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > Pulses of electrons manipulate nanomagnets and store information: Scientists use electron pulses to create and manipulate nanoscale magnetic excitations that can store data

Abstract:
Magnets and magnetic phenomena underpin the vast majority of modern data storage, and the measurement scales for research focused on magnetic behaviors continue to shrink with the rest of digital technology. Skyrmions, for example, are a kind of nanomagnet, comprised of a spin-correlated ensemble of electrons acting as a topological magnet on certain microscopic surfaces. The precise properties, like spin orientation, of such nanomagnets can store information. But how might you go about moving or manipulating these nanomagnets at will to store the data you want?

Pulses of electrons manipulate nanomagnets and store information: Scientists use electron pulses to create and manipulate nanoscale magnetic excitations that can store data

Washington, DC | Posted on July 21st, 2017

New research from a German-U.S. collaboration now demonstrates such read/write ability using bursts of electrons, encoding topological energy structures robustly enough for potential data storage applications. As the group reports this week in Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, the magnetization of these ensemble excitations, or quasiparticles, is controlled by tailoring the profile of the electron pulses, varying either the total number of electrons or their width in space.

"The work shows how magnetization of nanoscale magnets can be steered by intense ultrashort electron pulses," said Alexander Schäffer, a doctoral student at Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg in Halle, Germany, and lead author of the paper. "Experiments at SLAC already demonstrated the ultimate speed limit of magnetic switching with this scheme. Here we show that tailored electron pulses can swiftly write, erase or switch topologically protected magnetic textures such as skyrmions."

So far, Schäffer says there are only a few realized applications of these skyrmions, which are relatively new to the forefront of solid state physics, but their properties and the current research capabilities make them ripe for next generation technologies.

"In the tradition of the field of spin dynamics in nanostructures, I still appreciate the idea of non-volatile (long-term) memory devices, as the community of spintronics is also pursuing," he said. "The nice interplay between the mathematical concept of topological energy barriers and the physical transport properties of skyrmions, which are highly mobile, are the outstanding aspects for me."

Not only are these magnetic excitations controllable, but the team's results confirm many of the dynamic understandings provided by theory. Moreover, their results demonstrate potential for achieving similar topological charge transcription by way of laser pulses, whose lower and mass-free energy offer a number of practical benefits.

"These quasiparticles are robust against external perturbations, and hence are usually difficult to manipulate, and have a high potential for applications in data storage and computing," Schäffer said. "I was positively surprised about the nice accordance between experiment, analytics and numerical results, which gave me a good feeling in continuing this path. A second point was the finding that textures can be written with much lower beam intensity using tightly focused electron pulses. This brings their technological exploitation within reach as the required high-energy ultrafast electron microscopy setup is currently being developed at SLAC and other places worldwide."

This significant step lends itself to many more in the evolution from this generation's cutting-edge research to next generation's hard drives. As they continue to build on their research, Schäffer and his collaborators are looking toward broader applicability in a number of ways.

"Further development in the setups is required to be able to write skyrmionic structures on extended films, where we can't make any profit of geometric confinements like in the nanodisks," Schäffer said. "The next steps are mani-fold. Of course, an experimental realization is what we strive for with our experimental colleagues, especially the question of how good the switching-behavior between different topological states can be covered by our calculations. A complete simulation of laser-irradiated TEM of magnetic samples is one of our big goals at the moments."

####

About American Institute of Physics
Applied Physics Letters features concise, rapid reports on significant new findings in applied physics. The journal covers new experimental and theoretical research on applications of physics phenomena related to all branches of science, engineering, and modern technology. See http://apl.aip.org .

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Julia Majors

301-209-3090

Copyright © American Institute of Physics

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related Links

The article, "Ultrafast imprinting of topologically protected magnetic textures via pulsed electrons," is authored by Alexander F. Schäffer, Hermann A. Durr and Jamal Berakdar. The article appeared in Applied Physics Letters July 18, 2017 (DOI: 10.1063/1.4991521). After that date, it can be accessed at:

Related News Press

News and information

Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

Skyrmions

Scientists use heat to create transformations between skyrmions and antiskyrmions January 12th, 2024

Magnetism/Magnons

Three-pronged approach discerns qualities of quantum spin liquids November 17th, 2023

Study on Magnetic Force Microscopy wins 2023 Advances in Magnetism Award: Analysis of finite size effects reveals significant consequences for density measurements November 3rd, 2023

Twisted science: NIST researchers find a new quantum ruler to explore exotic matter October 6th, 2023

Researchers discover materials exhibiting huge magnetoresistance June 9th, 2023

Possible Futures

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Memory Technology

Interdisciplinary: Rice team tackles the future of semiconductors Multiferroics could be the key to ultralow-energy computing October 6th, 2023

Researchers discover materials exhibiting huge magnetoresistance June 9th, 2023

Rensselaer researcher uses artificial intelligence to discover new materials for advanced computing Trevor Rhone uses AI to identify two-dimensional van der Waals magnets May 12th, 2023

TUS researchers propose a simple, inexpensive approach to fabricating carbon nanotube wiring on plastic films: The proposed method produces wiring suitable for developing all-carbon devices, including flexible sensors and energy conversion and storage devices March 3rd, 2023

Discoveries

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024

High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Announcements

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters

Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project