Faster Magnetic Switch with Lower Energy Consumption Developed
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956_:
Faster magnetic switch with lower energy consumption developed:
A recent collaborative study between the UAB, Georgetown University, HZDR Dresden, CNM's Madrid and Barcelona, University of Grenoble, and ICN2, and published in the journal Nature Communications has shown that it is possible to switch magnetism ON and OFF in metals containing nitrogen (that is, to generate or remove all magnetic features of this material) with voltage. One simple analogy would be that we are able to increase or completely remove the strength with which a magnet attracts to, for example, the door of a fridge, simply by connecting it to a battery and applying a certain voltage polarity. In this project, cobalt-nitride is shown to be non-magnetic on its own, but when nitrogen is removed with voltage, it forms a cobalt-rich structure which is magnetic (and vice versa). This process is shown to be repeatable and durable, suggesting that such a system is a promising means to write and store data in a cyclable manner. Interestingly, it is also shown to require less energy and it is faster than systems using alternative non-magnetic atoms, such as oxygen, elevating the possible energy savings.
Journal Reference:
Julius de Rojas, Alberto Quintana, Aitor Lopeandia, et al. Voltage-driven motion of nitrogen ions: a new paradigm for magneto-ionics [open], Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19758-x)
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