Researchers from Oxford University's Department of Physics have made a breakthrough in creating and designing magnetic whirls in membranes that can be seamlessly integrated with silicon. These hurricane-like magnetic whirls, thought to move at incredible speeds of up to kilometers per second could be used as information carriers in a new generation of green and super-fast computing platforms.
The study, "Spatially reconfigurable antiferromagnetic states in topologically rich free-standing nanomembranes," has been published in Nature Materials.
Traditionally, these elusive whirls could only be produced in materials that have limited compatibility with silicon, hindering their practical application. This obstacle was overcome by developing a new form of magnetic layers that can be detached from their original crystal hosts and transferred onto any desired platform—such as a silicon wafer.
The work was led by Dr. Hariom Jani from Oxford University's Department of Physics working in Professor Paolo Radaelli's research group, in collaboration with the National University of Singapore and the Swiss Light Source.
To read more, click here.