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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday February 23 2021, @05:31PM   Printer-friendly

Concept for a new storage medium:

Using nanoscale quantum sensors, an international research team has succeeded in exploring certain previously uncharted physical properties of an antiferromagnetic material. Based on their results, the researchers developed a concept for a new storage medium published in the journal Nature Physics. The project was coordinated by researchers from the Department of Physics and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute at the University of Basel.

Antiferromagnets make up 90 percent of all magnetically ordered materials. Unlike ferromagnets such as iron, in which the magnetic moments of the atoms are oriented parallel to each other, the orientation of the magnetic moments in antiferromagnets alternates between neighboring atoms. As a result of the cancelation[sic] of the alternating magnetic moments, antiferromagnetic materials appear non-magnetic and do not generate an external magnetic field.

Antiferromagnets hold great promise for exciting applications in data processing, as the orientation of their magnetic moment -- in contrast to the ferromagnets used in conventional storage media -- cannot be accidentally overwritten by magnetic fields. In recent years, this potential has given rise to the budding research field of antiferromagnetic spintronics, which is the focus of numerous research groups around the world.

[...] "Next, we plan to look at whether the domain walls can also be moved by means of electrical fields," Maletinsky explains. "This would make antiferromagnets suitable as a storage medium that is faster than conventional ferromagnetic systems, while consuming substantially less energy."

Related YouTube video.

Journal Reference:
Natascha Hedrich, Kai Wagner, Oleksandr V. Pylypovskyi, et al. Nanoscale mechanics of antiferromagnetic domain walls, Nature Physics (DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-01157-0)


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  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 23 2021, @05:43PM (11 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 23 2021, @05:43PM (#1116505)

    I was hoping to read about a new way to store energy, instead of batteries or other technology to compliment wind and solar power.

    Instead we get a new *data* storage medium--useful, but hardly game changing.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 23 2021, @06:21PM (4 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday February 23 2021, @06:21PM (#1116525) Journal

      We could use a NAND or HDD killer.

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      • (Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 23 2021, @07:40PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 23 2021, @07:40PM (#1116570)

        We could use something NOT artificially nerfed to self-destruct in a handful of years. Big fat chance of that ever happening, whatever the technology.

        People who lived before us, left to us libraries, diaries, letters and photoalbums. We will leave after us NOTHING. As if we never existed on this Earth.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 23 2021, @06:23PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 23 2021, @06:23PM (#1116528)

      Speak for yourself. Computing is intimately linked with data storage, so a completely new data storage technology (with less energy consumption, faster I/O, greater robustness) is a big deal.

      I consider it a plus to hear about science and technology that has nothing to do with politics.

    • (Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday February 23 2021, @07:19PM

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 23 2021, @07:19PM (#1116553)
      The headline is vague, not confusing... you introduced that.
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    • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday February 23 2021, @10:32PM (3 children)

      by darkfeline (1030) on Tuesday February 23 2021, @10:32PM (#1116640) Homepage

      Anything that stores energy is called a battery. Mechanical batteries like gravity batteries exist.

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      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 24 2021, @12:48AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 24 2021, @12:48AM (#1116702)

        I thought a battery was a group of armed dudes, is that a store of military energy?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 19 2021, @03:05PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 19 2021, @03:05PM (#1126287)

          Pretty sure it is when you inflict bodily harm to another.

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 24 2021, @03:04AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 24 2021, @03:04AM (#1116736)

        No. A battery is a series of electrical cells connected together than release electrical energy.
        Words have meanings. If you call any energy storage device (call it a power source if you prefer) a "battery", you are speaking in metaphor. Engineering demands precise use of terminology. But, have fun calling a wound spring a "battery"; it just makes you look dumb.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 23 2021, @07:29PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 23 2021, @07:29PM (#1116563)

    We all know that the first use of any new technology is porn.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday February 23 2021, @07:49PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 23 2021, @07:49PM (#1116574) Journal

      Well, don't leave us in suspense. How many *Tubes fit on a 2 1/2" drive?

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