Researchers have discovered that light—in the form of a laser—can trigger a form of magnetism in a normally nonmagnetic material. This magnetism centers on the behavior of electrons. These subatomic particles have an electronic property called "spin," which has a potential application in quantum computing. The researchers found that electrons within the material became oriented in the same direction when illuminated by photons from a laser.
The experiment, led by scientists at the University of Washington and the University of Hong Kong, was published April 20 in Nature.
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