FSU scientists create a new crystal with swirling magnetic textures, opening paths to denser storage and future quantum technologies.
Florida State University researchers have engineered a crystalline material that twists magnetism into swirling patterns, a discovery that could push the boundaries of data storage , energy-efficient electronics, and future quantum tech nologies.
In their study, the team showed that combining two compounds with nearly identical chemical compositions but different crystal symmetries can yield an entirely new structure type. This resulted in a material with highly unusual, skyrmion-like magnetic textures.These tiny magnetic swirls emerge from the spins of atoms, each acting like a miniature arrow representing its magnetic orientation. When these spins align, they create the magnetism found in everyday devices. But when they twist into repeating spirals, they unlock exotic physics with immense technological potential.The FSU team’s approach provides a new way to intentionally generate these intricate patterns rather than hunt for them in nature.Twisting atomic orderThe researchers combined a manganese–cobalt–germanium compound with a manganese–cobalt–arsenic compound. Because germanium and arsenic sit next to each other on the periodic table, the chemical similarity allowed the two structures to merge, but their different symmetries introduced “frustration.”“We thought that maybe this structural frustration would translate into magnetic frustration,” said co-author Michael Shatruk. “If the structures are in competition, maybe that will cause the spins to twist.”When the mixture solidified into crystals, neutron diffraction experiments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s TOPAZ instrument revealed the distinctive cycloidal, skyrmion-like textures the team hoped to create.Such textures are a hot research area across physics and materials science because skyrmions can be manipulated with extremely low energy. This makes them ideal candidates for next-generation memory technologies and energy-efficient electronic components.Sharper magnetic controlThe work has major implications for high-density storage. Lower-energy magnetic manipulation means cooler, more efficient systems — an essential advantage for supercomputers running thousands of processors.“With single-crystal neutron diffraction data from TOPAZ and new data-reduction and machine-learning tools from our LDRD project, we can now solve very complex magnetic structures with much greater confidence,” said Xiaoping Wang. “That capability lets us move from simply finding unusual spin textures to intentionally designing and optimizing them for future information and quantum technologies.”The approach also opens doors for fault-tolerant quantum computing, where stable magnetic patterns could help preserve delicate quantum information.Chemical thinking paysUnlike traditional skyrmion research, where scientists search for materials that happen to contain the right symmetry, this study uses “chemical thinking” to predict how new textures will form.“It’s chemical thinking,” Shatruk said. “We’re thinking about how the balance between these structures affects them and the relation between them, and then how it might translate to the relation between atomic spins.”That predictive capability could guide researchers toward more affordable, easier-to-grow crystals, strengthening the supply chain for future technologies.Co-author Ian Campbell emphasizes this shift in strategy. “The idea is to be able to predict where these complex spin textures will appear,” he said. “If we add these two things together, we’ll form a completely new material with these desired properties.”Campbell completed part of this research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory through an FSU-supported fellowship, deepening the collaboration between FSU and ORNL scientists.The study has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Data Storage FSU Researchers Magnetic Textures Neutron Diffraction Quantum Tech Skyrmion Materials Spin Structures
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