Information in computers is stored in the direction of the electron spin in magnetic materials. To shrink devices while improving their performance is a goal of an emerging field called spin-electronics. A team of chemists and physicists at Columbia found a strong link between magnetism and electron transport in a material called chromium sulfide bromide.
The van der Waals crystal that was created in the lab of Chemist Xavier Roy is a few atoms thin and can be peeled into 2D layers. The stable nature of the crystals makes them different from other materials that are quickly destroyed by oxygen and water. The magnetic properties of these crystals are maintained at a relatively high temperature of -280F, avoiding the need for expensive liquid helium cooled to a temperature of -450F.
Evan Telford, who graduated with a PhD in physics from Columbia in 2020, said that it was easier to work with the 2D magnets of the Roy lab than it was with other magnets. Last year, colleagues Nathan Wilson and Xiaodong Xu at the University of Washington and Xiaoyang Zhu at Columbia found a link between magnetism and light. The effort to explore its electronic properties was led by Telford.
Different parameters that can be adjusted to produce different effects in a material were studied by the team. As electronic properties changed, so did magnetism.
Semiconductors have electronic properties. There are spin configurations for magnets. Roy said that the two knobs are combined in CrSBr, which makes it attractive for both fundamental research and potential spintronics application.
As the size of the material shrinks, it is difficult to measure magnetism directly, but it is easy to measure resistance. Roy said that resistance can be used as a proxy for magnetic states, especially as researchers look to build chips out of 2D magnets.
The link between the material's magnetic and electronic properties was due to defects in the layers. He said that without the defects, we wouldn't have seen this.
The Roy lab is experimenting with ways to grow peelable van der Waals crystals with deliberate defects to improve the ability to fine tune the material's properties. They are looking at whether different combinations of elements could function at higher temperatures.
More information: Evan J. Telford et al, Coupling between magnetic order and charge transport in a two-dimensional magnetic semiconductor, Nature Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41563-022-01245-x Journal information: Nature Materials Citation: Unique quantum material could enable ultra-powerful, compact computers (2022, May 20) retrieved 20 May 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-05-unique-quantum-material-enable-ultra-powerful.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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