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A discovery that can make the power consumption of computers almost zero.
An international team of scientists, led by Professors Hugo Diehl of the Ecole Polytechnique of the Federal Institute of Lausanne (EPFL), Gunter Springholz of the Johannes Kepler University in Linz and Jan Minar of the University of West Bohemia, has made an unexpected discovery in the field of materials science that could radically change the energy efficiency of computing.
Researchers have discovered unique magnetic properties in an exotic material-manganese-doped germanium telluride (Mn-doped GeTe), which belongs to the class of multiferroics. These materials have the ability to simultaneously magnetize and polarize, making them extremely attractive for applications in advanced electronics and next-generation memory.
However, a new study has shown that Mn-doped GeTe behaves like a ferrimagnet, which is different from the behavior of conventional ferromagnets such as iron. Ferrimagnets can be thought of as two magnets with slightly different strengths superimposed on each other. This feature opens up new perspectives in the development of technologies where the control of magnetism plays a central role.
A key breakthrough was the discovery of a method that increases the efficiency of changing the magnetic state by as much as six orders of magnitude. Researchers have moved away from the traditional use of intense current pulses, in favor of using a weak alternating current, supplemented by a precisely timed minimum current 'pulse'. This technique, which resembles a light push that gives the swing a swing swing, is called 'stochastic resonance and opens up new horizons in the management of magnetic materials.
The change caused by this "push" quickly spread through the material, like ripples on water, so that the material behaves both as a solid and as a liquid at the same time, resembling glass. This behavior is due to the correlated spin glass in the material, where the local magnetic moments are in a glassy state.
Ugo Diehl emphasized that for technological applications, this increase in switching efficiency is very important, because in the future it may lead to computers that need a million times less energy to switch one bit than they do now. However, the physicist is particularly interested in the collective behavior of these materials, and the scientists plan to conduct spatio-temporal experiments to study the propagation of detected excitations and ways to control them.
The results of the study are published in the journal Nature Communications.
An international team of scientists, led by Professors Hugo Diehl of the Ecole Polytechnique of the Federal Institute of Lausanne (EPFL), Gunter Springholz of the Johannes Kepler University in Linz and Jan Minar of the University of West Bohemia, has made an unexpected discovery in the field of materials science that could radically change the energy efficiency of computing.
Researchers have discovered unique magnetic properties in an exotic material-manganese-doped germanium telluride (Mn-doped GeTe), which belongs to the class of multiferroics. These materials have the ability to simultaneously magnetize and polarize, making them extremely attractive for applications in advanced electronics and next-generation memory.
However, a new study has shown that Mn-doped GeTe behaves like a ferrimagnet, which is different from the behavior of conventional ferromagnets such as iron. Ferrimagnets can be thought of as two magnets with slightly different strengths superimposed on each other. This feature opens up new perspectives in the development of technologies where the control of magnetism plays a central role.
A key breakthrough was the discovery of a method that increases the efficiency of changing the magnetic state by as much as six orders of magnitude. Researchers have moved away from the traditional use of intense current pulses, in favor of using a weak alternating current, supplemented by a precisely timed minimum current 'pulse'. This technique, which resembles a light push that gives the swing a swing swing, is called 'stochastic resonance and opens up new horizons in the management of magnetic materials.
The change caused by this "push" quickly spread through the material, like ripples on water, so that the material behaves both as a solid and as a liquid at the same time, resembling glass. This behavior is due to the correlated spin glass in the material, where the local magnetic moments are in a glassy state.
Ugo Diehl emphasized that for technological applications, this increase in switching efficiency is very important, because in the future it may lead to computers that need a million times less energy to switch one bit than they do now. However, the physicist is particularly interested in the collective behavior of these materials, and the scientists plan to conduct spatio-temporal experiments to study the propagation of detected excitations and ways to control them.
The results of the study are published in the journal Nature Communications.