By reducing a material to the same nano scale as the electronic regions that reside within, researchers have gained a better understanding of the dynamics of electronic phase transitions. This information is critical to advances in several technologies that rely on competing resistive states such as random access memory for computers, low-energy magnetic cooling and next-generation materials to detect light. These findings, published by a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Zac Ward, appear in Physical Review B. Using this strategy to confine a material, the researchers found that they can isolate and observe the effects of electric field, temperature and current on a single or a few of these regions as they seed, grow and transition.
Menu