Ferromagnetism is the basic mechanism by which certain materials form permanent magnets, or are attracted to magnets.
The use of ferromagnetism reaches back as far as ancient times when lodestone was used for navigation.
Since then only three single elements have been found to be ferromagnetic at room temperature: iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni); the rare earth element gadolinium (Gd) nearly misses by only 8 degrees Celsius.
“Magnetism is always amazing. It proves itself again,” said Professor Jian-Ping Wang, from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Minnesota.
“We are excited and grateful to be the first group to experimentally demonstrate and add the fourth ferromagnetic element at room temperature to the periodic table.”
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