It's not exactly a new revelation that electricity and magnetism are closely linked. And yet, magnetic and electrical effects have been studied separately for some time now within the field of materials science.

Magnetic fields will usually be used to influence magnetic material properties, whilst electrical properties come down to electrical voltage. Then we have multiferroics - a special group of materials that combine the two. In a new development, TU Wien has managed to use electrical fields to control the magnetic oscillations of certain ferrous materials. This has opened up huge potential for computer technology applications, as data is currently transferred in the form of electrical signals but stored magnetically.

Within the field of solid state physics, it is often a case of working with material properties that can be influenced by either magnetic or electrical fields. As a general rule, magnetic and electrical effects can be studied separately because their causes are completely different.

Magnetic effects come about because particles have an internal magnetic direction called the 'spin', whereas electrical effects result from positive and negative charges within a material that can shift position in relation to one another.

"When it comes to materials with very specific spatial symmetries, however, the two can be combined," explains Professor Andrei Pimenov from the Institute of Solid State Physics at TU Wien.

He has been conducting research into this special kind of material - 'multiferroics' - for a number of years now. Multiferroics are currently considered to be a promising new area within solid state physics on a global scale. Interesting experiments have already been performed to research how magnetic and electrical effects can be linked and now Pimenov and his team of researchers have managed to use electrical fields to control the high-frequency magnetic oscillations of a material consisting of iron, boron and rare-earth metals for the first time.

"The material contains iron atoms which are threefold positively charged. They have a magnetic moment oscillating at a frequency of 300 GHz," says Pimenov.

"There is no question that these oscillations could be controlled using a magnetic field. But what we have managed to demonstrate is that these oscillations can be altered in a targeted way using an electrical field." This means that a dynamic magnetic effect - the iron atoms' magnetic state of oscillation - can be activated or deactivated using a static electrical field.

Magnetic data storage, electrical writing
This development is particularly interesting for future electronics applications: "Our hard drives store data magnetically, but it is incredibly difficult to write data quickly and accurately in the same way," says Pimenov.

"It is so much easier to apply an electrical field with pinpoint precision, as all you need is a simple voltage pulse. The process is very speedy and doesn't involve any significant loss of energy." But now we could potentially have the option of using materials that combine magnetic and electrical effects to bring together the advantages of magnetic storage and electrical writing.

Research paper

Related Links
Vienna University of Technology
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

20 percent more trees in megacities would mean cleaner air and water, lower carbon and energy use
New York NY (SPX) Feb 01, 2018
Planting 20 percent more trees in our megacities would double the benefits of urban forests, like pollution reduction, carbon sequestration and energy reduction, according to a study in Ecological Modelling. The authors of the study, which was carried out at Parthenope University of Naples in Italy, say city planners, residents and other stakeholders should start looking within cities for natural resources and conserve the nature in our urban areas by planting more trees. Their work has been selected by ... read more