Communications of the ACM
Magnetoelectric Materials Promise Advances in Computing Technology
A representation of a titanium-europium oxide cage lattice, which Argonne National Laboratory researchers studied for experiments on magnetoelectric materials.
Credit: Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory researchers have developed methods for controlling magnetic order in a specific class of materials called magnetoelectrics.
The materials' magnetic and electric properties are coupled to each other, which allows for the control of their magnetic behavior with an electrical signal and vice versa.
"Our research is designed to accentuate the coupling between the electric and magnetic parameters by subtly altering the structure of the material," says Argonne's Philip Ryan.
The researchers focused on europium-titanium oxide, which has a simple atomic structure that makes it well-suited for this type of research. "The europium and the titanium combine to control the two properties," Ryan says. "The position of the titanium influences the electric behavior, while the europium generates the magnetic nature."
The researchers say their approach to cross-coupling magnetoelectricity could lead to the development of next-generation memory storage, improved magnetic field sensors, and many other applications.
"The more we learn about magnetoelectrics, the more we open up this space that gives us the best of both worlds," Ryan says.
From Argonne National Laboratory
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