. 24/7 Space News .
TECH SPACE
Scientists discover new magnetic element
by Staff Writers
Minneapolis MN (SPX) May 29, 2018

This schematic illustrates how a tetragonal phase of Ru has been forced using ultra thin film growth methods.

A new experimental discovery, led by researchers at the University of Minnesota, demonstrates that the chemical element ruthenium (Ru) is the fourth single element to have unique magnetic properties at room temperature. The discovery could be used to improve sensors, devices in the computer memory and logic industry, or other devices using magnetic materials.

The use of ferromagnetism, or the basic mechanism by which certain materials (such as iron) form permanent magnets or are attracted to magnets, reaches back as far as ancient times when lodestone was used for navigation. Since then only three elements on the periodic table have been found to be ferromagnetic at room temperature - iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni). The rare earth element gadolinium (Gd) nearly misses by only 8 degrees Celsius.

Magnetic materials are very important in industry and modern technology and have been used for fundamental studies and in many everyday applications such as sensors, electric motors, generators, hard disk media, and most recently spintronic memories. As thin film growth has improved over the past few decades, so has the ability to control the structure of crystal lattices - or even force structures that are impossible in nature. This new study demonstrates that Ru can be the fourth single element ferromagnetic material by using ultra-thin films to force the ferromagnetic phase.

The details of their work are published in the most recent issue of Nature Communications. The lead author of the paper is a recent University of Minnesota Ph.D. graduate Patrick Quarterman, who is a National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

"Magnetism is always amazing. It proves itself again. We are excited and grateful to be the first group to experimentally demonstrate and add the fourth ferromagnetic element at room temperature to the periodic table," said University of Minnesota Robert F. Hartmann professor of electrical and computer engineering Jian-Ping Wang, the corresponding author for the paper and Quarterman's advisor.

"This is an exciting but hard problem. It took us about two years to find a right way to grow this material and validate it. This work will trigger magnetic research community to look into fundamental aspects of magnetism for many well-known elements," Wang added.

Other members of the team also stressed the importance of this work.

"The ability to manipulate and characterize matter at the atomic scale is the cornerstone of modern information technology," said study co-author Paul Voyles, a Beckwith-Bascom Professor and Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Our collaboration with University of Minnesota Professor Wang's group shows that these tools can find new things even in the simplest systems, consisting of a just a single element."

Industry partners agree that collaboration is key to innovation
"Intel is pleased with the long-term research collaboration it has with the University of Minnesota and C-SPIN [Center for Spintronic Materials, Interfaces, and Novel Architectures], said Ian A. Young, Senior Fellow and Director at Intel Corporation. "We are excited to share these developments enabled by exploring the behavior of quantum effects in materials, which may provide insights for innovative energy efficient logic and memory devices." Other industry leaders agree that this discovery will have an impact on the semiconductor industry.

"Spintronic devices are of rapidly increasing importance to the semiconductor industry," said Todd Younkin, the director of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-sponsored consortia at Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC). "Fundamental advances in our understanding of magnetic materials, such as those demonstrated in this study by Professor Wang and his team, is critical to realizing continued breakthroughs in computing performance and efficiency."

Novel technologies require novel materials
Magnetic recording is still the dominant player in data storage technology, but magnetic based random-access memory and computing is beginning to take its place. These magnetic memories and logic devices put additional constraints on the magnetic materials, where data is stored and computed, compared to traditional hard disk media magnetic materials. This push for novel materials has led to renewed interest in attempts to realize predictions which show that under the right conditions, non-ferromagnetic materials, such as Ru, palladium (Pd) and osmium (Os) can become ferromagnetic.

Building upon the established theoretical predictions, researchers at the University of Minnesota used seed layer engineering to force the tetragonal phase of Ru, which prefers to have a hexagonal configuration, and observed the first instance of ferromagnetism in a single element at room temperature. The crystal structure and magnetic properties were extensively characterized by collaborating with the University of Minnesota's Characterization Facility and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin.

The researchers said this study opens the door to fundamental studies of this new ferromagnetic Ru. From an application perspective, Ru is interesting because it is resistant to oxidation, and additional theoretical predictions claim it has a high thermal stability - a vital requirement for scaling magnetic memories. Examination of this high thermal stability is the focus of ongoing research at the University of Minnesota.

Research paper


Related Links
University of Minnesota
Space Technology News - Applications and Research


Thanks for being there;
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 Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


TECH SPACE
Astonishing effect enables better palladium catalysts
Vienna, Austria (SPX) May 24, 2018
The taste of the chocolate cake's icing should not depend on whether it is served on a porcelain or a silver plate. Similarly, for chemical reactions on the surface of large precious metal grains, the substrate (the so-called support) should not play a crucial role. The catalytic grains often have a diameter spanning many thousands of atoms, and the support on which they rest should thus not affect chemical reactions on the other side far away from the interface - at least this was believed to dat ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



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

TECH SPACE
Trio reach Earth from ISS with football slated for World Cup

NASA selects US companies to advance space resource collection

NASA, Space Station Partners Announce Future Mission Crew Members

Breath of Life: Russia Working on System to Turn Cosmonauts' Breath Into Water

TECH SPACE
Commercial satellite launch service market to grow strongly through 2024

Arianespace and ISIS to launch small satellites on the Vega SSMS POC flight

Gilmour Space prepares for suborbital hybrid rocket launch

Watch live: SpaceX to launch SES-12 communications satellite

TECH SPACE
Opportunity Mars rover ready to study rock targets up close

New image shows exposed bedrock in Hale Crater on Mars

Embry-Riddle Student is Helping NASA Prepare for Trips to Mars

Red Planet rover set for extreme environment workout

TECH SPACE
Beijing welcomes use of Chinese space station by all UN Nations

China upgrades spacecraft reentry and descent technology

China develops wireless systems for rockets

China's Queqiao satellite carries "large umbrella" into deep space

TECH SPACE
NASA Selects Small Business Technology Awards

Gogo and Iridium Partner to Deliver Best-in-Class Aircraft Connectivity

From ships to satellites: Scotland aims for the sky

Iridium Makes Maritime Industry History

TECH SPACE
Scientists discover new magnetic element

Firing up a new alloy

Space Traffic Management - Oversight, Licensing And Enforcement

Zn-InsP6 complex can enhance excretion of radioactive strontium from the body

TECH SPACE
Distant moons may harbor life

NASA Dives Deep into the Search for Life

How microbes survive clean rooms and contaminate spacecraft

A simple mechanism could have been decisive for the development of life

TECH SPACE
'Surprising' methane dunes found on Pluto

Scientists reveal the secrets behind Pluto's dunes

Pluto may be giant comet made up of comets, study says

SwRI scientists introduce cosmochemical model for Pluto formation









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.