. 24/7 Space News .
CHIP TECH
Novel way of transferring magnetic information
by Staff Writers
Singapore (SPX) Apr 12, 2016


Part of the team members from NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute are: (from left to right) Dr. Renshaw Wang, Dr. Huang Zhen, Assistant Professor Ariando and Professor T. Venkatesan. They are looking at a four-inch wafer on which a multi-component oxide film has been deposited using the pulsed laser deposition process. Image courtesy NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute. For a larger version of this image please go here.

A team led by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has achieved a major breakthrough in magnetic interaction. By adding a special insulator, they make electrons "twirl" their neighbouring "dance partners" to transfer magnetic information over a longer range between two thin layers of magnetic materials. This novel technique enables magnetic information to make their way from one magnetic layer to another, synonymous to the encoding and transmission of data.

"The big data revolution relies on vast amount of digital information which are magnetically stored on hard disks in server farms across the planet. A bottleneck that stifles the progress of this emerging field lies in the demand for faster data transmission rates.

"The recent discovery by our team paves the way for the development of devices that operate in the terahertz frequency range, which makes encoding and transmission of data many times faster," explained Assistant Professor Ariando, who is from the NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute (NUSNNI), and co-leader of the research team.

The findings were reported in the online edition of the journal Nature Communications on 16 March 2016.

Electron spin and magnetism
While many people are used to downloading data from the Cloud onto mobile devices, most do not know where the data comes from. Digital information is stored in minute magnetic dots written in layers that are only a few nanometers thick that cover the surface of millions of saucer-sized spinning disks. These hard disks are stacked by the thousands in server farms worldwide.

In recent years, the technology for growing uniform magnetic layers only ten to 100 atoms thick has been perfected. By combining them into complex stacks, these nanostructures form the foundation of 'spin electronics'. The 'spin' here refers to the resemblance between the electron and a spinning ball of electric charge, and the spin makes the electron into a tiny magnet.

When two magnetic layers are stacked close to each other, they couple together to exchange electrons with each other. The electrons carry across their spin, and the directions of magnetisation of the two layers are aligned. This coupling is broken if the two magnetic layers are separated by an insulating spacer that is more than a few atoms thick. The insulator is almost impenetrable for the free electrons.

A new magnetic interaction
As magnetic interactions are normally mediated by short-range exchange or weak dipole fields, the research team, which is co-led by Professor T Venky Venkatesan, Director of NUSNNI, sought to propagate the magnetic interaction over longer distances.

Dr Lu Weiming, a Research Fellow at NUSNNI and first author of the research paper, found that the use of polar oxide insulator enables the range of the magnetic coupling to jump from about one nanometer to ten, and its strength varies up and down with spacer thickness.

This discovery is startling as no electrons could ever make their way across such an impenetrable layer. In addition, the range achieved would previously have required a metallic system to transmit the electrons across the magnetic layers.

To explain this unusual observation, Professor Michael Coey of Trinity College Dublin, who is a visiting faculty at NUSNNI, came up with a suggestion. "Instead of spin magnetism being carried across directly by messenger electrons, it is the orbital magnetism that is passed along from atom to the next across the insulator.

The atomic electrons are engaged in a dance, each twirling their partners on the neighbouring atoms until the orbital motion reaches the other side," he explained.

Prof Coey's supposition was proven to be true by research team member Dr Surajit Saha, a Research Fellow at NUSNNI and the Department of Physics at the NUS Faculty of Science, who performed spectroscopic measurements on the new magnetic effect.

Applying discovery to next generation magneto optical devices
Now that the research team has provided the recipe for the insulator that allows the magnetic effect to occur, they intend to further investigate the effect to fully understand the mechanism, and to utilise their discovery to develop a new generation of magneto optical devices.

Prof Venkatesan said, "I believe we will soon discover a use for the phenomenon in the terahertz frequency regime. Unlike the time of French physicist Louis Neel, whose discovery of anti-ferromagnetism found an application 60 years hence, nowadays, it should not take 60 years to find an application for new discoveries in magnetism such as this."


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
National University of Singapore
Computer Chip Architecture, Technology and Manufacture
Nano Technology News From SpaceMart.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
CHIP TECH
Cooling chips with the flip of a switch
Washington DC (SPX) Apr 11, 2016
Turn on an electric field, and a standard electrocaloric material will eject heat to its surroundings as its internal dipoles reorder themselves. Do the same thing, and a negative electrocaloric material will absorb heat, cooling the environment, thanks to the blend of ferroelectric polymers that make up each. While these materials have been investigated as a method of on-demand microclima ... read more


CHIP TECH
The Moon thought to play a major role in maintaining Earth's magnetic field

Moon Mission: A Blueprint for the Red Planet

The Lunar Race That Isn't

Earth's moon wandered off axis billions of years ago

CHIP TECH
Scientists find Mars surface replica in India

Scientists study gypsum to better understand water on Mars

Rover takes on steepest slope ever tried on Mars

Martian winds slowly build enormous mounds over billions of years

CHIP TECH
Spanish port becomes global 'smart city' laboratory

Silicon Beach: LA tech hub where the sun always shines

New DNA/RNA Tool to Diagnose, Treat Diseases

ASU to develop the next generation science education courseware for NASA

CHIP TECH
Has Tiangong 1 gone rogue

China's 1st space lab Tiangong-1 ends data service

China's aim to explore Mars

China to establish first commercial rocket launch company

CHIP TECH
Russian cargo ship docks successfully with space station

Russia launches cargo ship to space station

Cargo ship reaches space station on resupply run

Unmanned Cygnus cargo ship launches to ISS on resupply run: NASA

CHIP TECH
NASA Progresses Toward SpaceX Resupply Mission to Space Station

SpaceX lands rocket on water platform for first time

SpaceX to launch first cargo since 2015 accident

Water System Tested on Crew Access Arm at KSC

CHIP TECH
Planet formation in Earth-like orbit around a young star

NASA's Spitzer Maps Climate Patterns on a Super-Earth

'Smoothed' light will help search for Earth's twins

Map of rocky exoplanet reveals a lava world

CHIP TECH
Artificial molecules

'Self-healing' plastic could mean better bandages, tougher phone cases

New understanding of liquid to solid state transition discovered

New metallic glass bounces









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.