APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:
- Magnetic Memory Storage
- Semiconductors/Microelectronics
ADVANTAGES:
- Appealing for low-power and low-temperature memory storage applications
- Points towards use of TMDs at or near room temperature for faster memory storage at lower power consumption
ABSTRACT:
James Analytis from Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley, and James’s colleagues, have developed a technology in which transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) intercalated with magnetic transition metal(s) serve as the active material in an antiferromagnetic memory device. This new technology could pave the way for companies that fabricate magnetic memory storage to produce faster, lower-power, non-volatile memory.
Specifically, the magnetic TMDs studied exhibit antiferromagnetic ordering at temperatures below 42K. Current densities on the order of 104 A/cm2 can reorient the magnetic order, the response of which can be detected in the sample’s resistance. The magnetic TMDs studied exhibit fully electronic switching behavior in single crystal form, making them appealing for low-power, low-temperature memory storage applications. Moreover, the materials are part of a much larger family of magnetic TMDs, some of which may exhibit switching behavior at higher temperatures – at or near room temperature – and form a platform from which to build tunable AFM spintronic devices.
Antiferromagnetic memory devices are superior because they do not produce external stray fields making memory stored in these devices invisible to external magnetic probes and allowing individual devices to be more tightly packed. Another advantage is that they have ultrafast spin dynamics and switch at THz speeds, substantially faster than the gold standard. The Berkeley Lab / UC Berkeley technology represents an important step towards the development of faster, lower-power, non-volatile memory storage.
DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Proven principle
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Nityan L. Nair, Eran Maniv, Caolan John, Spencer Doyle, J. Orenstein, James G. Analytis. “Electrical switching in a magnetically intercalated transition metal dichalcogenide”
STATUS: Patent pending. Available for licensing or collaborative research.