In a pioneering effort to control, measure and understand magnetism at the atomic level, researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered a new method for manipulating the nanoscale properties of magnetic materials.
The ability to control these properties has potential applications in creating and improving the magnetic memory in consumer electronic devices, and developing a sensitive detector for magnetic nanoparticles.
The discovery focuses on a quantum-mechanical property known as spin, which endows electrons with a tiny magnetic field. Electron spin can point in either of two directions, "up" or "down," as does the accompanying magnetic field. Over the years, scientists have become adept at flipping the direction of spin, and therefore, the direction of the magnetic field. But the new finding has a novel twist.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-magnetism.html#jCp
In a pioneering effort to control, measure and understand magnetism at the atomic level, researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered a new method for manipulating the nanoscale properties of magnetic materials.
The ability to control these properties has potential applications in creating and improving the magnetic memory in consumer electronicdevices, and developing a sensitive detector for magnetic nanoparticles.
The discovery focuses on a quantum-mechanical property known as spin, which endows electrons with a tiny magnetic field. Electron spin can point in either of two directions, "up" or "down," as does the accompanying magnetic field. Over the years, scientists have become adept at flipping the direction of spin, and therefore, the direction of the magnetic field. But the new finding has a novel twist.