Imagine a world so minuscule it challenges the limits of human perception — the nanoscale. To visualize this, consider shrinking a single strand of human hair a million times over. In this incredibly tiny realm, atoms and molecules govern a universe of properties and behaviors that are largely uncharted — until now.
Researchers Deepak Singh and Carsten Ullrich, along with their teams of students and postdoctoral fellows at the University of Missouri’s College of Arts and Science, have made a groundbreaking discovery: the identification of a new type of quasiparticle present in all magnetic materials, regardless of their strength or temperature. This discovery opens up a new frontier in our understanding of magnetism and could revolutionize multiple fields of technology.
The discovery challenges long-held assumptions about magnetism, unveiling its far more dynamic and complex nature. According to Carsten Ullrich, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, the newly discovered quasiparticles behave like bubbles in sparkling water, freely moving at astonishing speeds. “These quasiparticles can move remarkably fast, which is a surprising revelation in the context of traditional understanding,” said Ullrich.
The implications of this finding are enormous. It could pave the way for next-generation electronics that are not only faster and smarter but also more energy-efficient. However, before these technologies can be realized, scientists must determine how to integrate this new knowledge into practical applications.
One area poised to benefit directly from this discovery is spintronics, or spin electronics. Traditional electronics rely on the electrical charge of electrons to store and process information. In contrast, spintronics exploits the intrinsic spin of electrons — a quantum property that offers unique advantages. Deepak Singh, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, explains that the spin property of electrons plays a key role in magnetic phenomena and offers significant energy efficiency.
“In spintronics, instead of relying on the electron’s charge, we use its spin,” Singh said. “This is more efficient because spin dissipates much less energy than charge does.” This technology could revolutionize how devices like smartphones and computers operate, leading to drastically improved energy efficiency. For instance, batteries powered by spintronic technology could last for hundreds of hours on a single charge, a leap that would benefit nearly every sector of modern technology.
The efficiency of spintronics lies in the fact that the spin of electrons can store and transfer information with minimal energy loss. This is a significant advancement over traditional charge-based electronics, where energy dissipation is a constant challenge. Singh’s research team, including former graduate student Jiason Guo, conducted experiments to fine-tune the properties of magnetic materials, while Ullrich’s team worked on creating models to explain the behaviors they observed using powerful spectrometers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
This study builds upon the team’s earlier work published in Nature Communications, where they first reported the dynamic behavior of quasiparticles on the nanoscale. In their latest paper, titled “Emergent topological quasiparticle kinetics in constricted nanomagnets,” published in Physical Review Research, the researchers continue to explore these dynamic behaviors and their implications.
The next step for scientists will be to explore how these quasiparticles and their dynamic movements can be harnessed for real-world applications, especially in fields like spintronics. The discovery offers a glimpse into a new realm of physics that could enable faster, more efficient electronics, improved data storage, and possibly even advances in quantum computing.
This groundbreaking work was supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, under the projects DE-SC0014461 and DE-SC0019109. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agency.
As this field continues to evolve, the discoveries made by Singh, Ullrich, and their teams will likely be instrumental in unlocking the potential of nanoscale magnetism and spintronics, driving forward new technologies that could reshape the way we interact with the digital world.
By Impact Lab
