DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used neutrons to reveal that a small mechanical squeeze can dramatically change the magnetic behavior of an emerging class of magnetic materials known as altermagnets.
The findings, published in back‑to‑back papers in Physical Review X and Advanced Materials, suggest mechanical strain could offer a simple way to control the magnetism and electron flow in materials being explored for future spintronic technologies.
Spintronics, short for spin electronics, relies on electron spin in addition to charge to store and process data, whereas traditional electronics relies solely on electron charge. Once the right foundational materials — including materials for altermagnets — are discovered, spintronics could advance technologies from wireless communication to quantum computing.
“By controlling the magnetic domains, we can directly influence the transport behavior, and that opens the door to exploring these materials for spintronic technologies,” said Pengcheng Dai of Rice University, a former neutron scientist at ORNL.
The research team at ORNL squeezed tiny crystals of manganese telluride and iron sulfide between two titanium plates. Neutron diffraction at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source showed that the mechanical strain altered the materials’ domain populations and changed an electrical response known as the anomalous Hall effect.
“What’s exciting is that one creative experimental idea — a small mechanical squeeze between two plates — can reveal entirely new magnetic behavior and push the field forward, and neutron scattering plays such a critical role, revealing the underlying change in magnetism,” said Feng Ye, an ORNL neutron scientist and co-author on both linked publications.
ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source is a DOE Office of Science user facility.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. — Sumner Brown Gibbs
Reference
Uniaxial Strain Tuned Magnetism of the Altermagnet Candidate H-FeS
Weiliang Yao, Feng Ye, Zachary J. Morgan, Douglas L. Abernathy, Ruixian Liu, Sijie Xu, Yuxiang Gao, Kevin Allen, Yuan Fang, Emilia Morosan, Qimiao Si, and Pengcheng Dai
Physicists had long recognized only ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism, but a SLAC-led team has now delivered conclusive experimental proof of a third phase: altermagnetism. Using circularly polarized X-rays at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the researchers detected chirality in manganese telluride, a signature that conventional antiferromagnets cannot produce.
An ultrathin iridium manganese layer between yttrium iron garnet and platinum strengthens two spin-related signals, the spin Seebeck effect and spin Hall magnetoresistance, according to researchers at Kyushu University. A 0.3 nm layer produced the strongest responses, with spin mixing conductance values derived from both effects agreeing closely.
A computational method developed at TU Dresden and HZDR predicts separable atomic layers in any crystal, not just classic van der Waals stacks. Screening more than 24,000 structures, the team flagged 2,531 promising candidates for 2D materials, many with low exfoliation energies and favourable stability.
This week in nanotech
$558.4M raised
6 funding rounds · 37 deals tracked
New products
Nion-compatible In Situ STEM Holders for Electrical BiasingHummingbird Scientific Featured
Ti-WCMBN Nanomaterialia Featured
Fe85Cr4Mo8V2C1 wire filler materialLeibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden - IFW DresdenMarket insights
Last 30 days: Quantum Technologies drew the most money: $2.15B.
Money raised per month
