Discoveries

March 08, 2024

A Different Type of Attraction

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Scientists recently identified a new form of magnetism present in everyday materials that could have major technological applications, New Atlas reported.

Known as “altermagnetism,” this new form exhibits a unique combination of properties that differ from the more familiar ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism.

In ferromagnetism, electron spins align uniformly, while in antiferromagnetism, the spins alternate their direction.

But in altermagnetism, electrons within the material spin in alternating directions – akin to antiferromagnets – which doesn’t produce magnetization, the researchers explained in their study.

The team added that altermagnetic materials are different from other known forms because they demonstrate alternating spin states among their energy bands.

The existence of altermagnetism was initially theorized in 2019, and recent experiments at the Swiss Light Source synchrotron confirmed its presence in manganese telluride.

While other sub-forms of magnetism have been identified in recent years, the researchers noted that altermagnetism stands out due to its potential applications, particularly in superconductivity and spintronics – where data is encoded using electron spins instead of charges.

In spintronics, ferromagnets are often preferred because of their favorable properties, but their magnetic fields can interfere with neighboring electrons. Meanwhile, antiferromagnets – which lack net magnetism – have weaker spin effects for data encoding.

However, altermagnetic materials offer a promising compromise: They feature strong spin effects without net magnetism – a combination that was long assumed impossible.

Lead author Tomáš Jungwirth, the principal investigator of the study, emphasized that altermagnetism is a fundamental yet overlooked phenomenon existing in various crystals that have been readily available.

“In that sense, now that we have brought it to light, many people around the world will be able to work on it, giving the potential for a broad impact,” he said.

Correction: In Thursday’s THE WORLD, BRIEFLY section, we said in our ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ item that Peruvian law provides that one cabinet minister’s departure triggers the resignation of the entire 18-member cabinet. In fact, the whole cabinet steps down only if the prime minister – formally known as President of the Council of Ministers – resigns. We apologize for the error.

This story originally appeared in the March 08, 2024 newsletter, Stinky Politics.