APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:
- Incorporated into spintronic-based computer hardware as a method of transporting and storing information in antiferromagnetic (AFM) bits
- Non-local sensor
BENEFITS:
- AFM switches perform faster and with less energy compared with ferromagnetic switches
BACKGROUND:
- Past work has included researchers’ initial discovery of switching in the AFM system. Based on their study, researchers have grown and fabricated devices of iron-intercalated niobium disulfide and observed a non-local switching response. As demonstrated in some cases, it can be comparable in magnitude to the local switching response.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW:
Researchers at Berkeley Lab have developed antiferromagnetic (AFM) memory storage devices in which an electrical stimulus switches the direction of the AFM order between stable configurations from tens of microns away. This takes place in crystals which have been fabricated to support the application of brief, orthogonal DC current pulses in one portion of the device as well as the measurement of resistance in a remote portion of the device.
The technology enables the transfer and storage of information in a new manner. It transports spin information via the collective excitations of an antiferromagnet and stores that information by leveraging the interactions between AFM domains.
DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Proven principle
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS:
STATUS: Patent pending.
OPPORTUNITIES: Available for licensing or collaborative research.
SEE THESE OTHER BERKELEY LAB TECHNOLOGIES IN THIS FIELD:
Antiferromagnetic Memory Storage Device from Magnetic Transition Metal Dichalcogenides 2019-114