Researchers at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) used neutrons to reveal how a small mechanical squeeze can dramatically change the magnetic behavior of an emerging class of magnetic materials known as altermagnets.
The findings, published in back‑to‑back papers in Physical Review X and Advanced Materials, suggest mechanical strain could offer a simple way to control the magnetism and electron flow in materials being explored for future spintronic technologies.
Spintronics, short for spin electronics, relies on electron spin in addition to charge to store and process data, whereas traditional electronics relies solely on electron charge. Once the right foundational materials are discovered — including materials for altermagnets — spintronics could advance technologies from wireless communication to quantum computing.
“By controlling the magnetic domains, we can directly influence the transport behavior, and that opens the door to exploring these materials for spintronic technologies,” said Pengcheng Dai of Rice University, a former neutron scientist at ORNL.
Before and after neutron diffraction patterns show how mechanical strain changes magnetic domain populations in altermagnetic materials, demonstrating a potential way to control magnetism for future spintronic technologies. Credit: Phoenix Pleasant/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
The research team at ORNL squeezed tiny crystals of manganese telluride and iron sulfide between two titanium plates. Neutron diffraction at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source showed that the mechanical strain altered the materials’ domain populations and changed an electrical response known as the anomalous Hall effect.
“What’s exciting is that one creative experimental idea — a small mechanical squeeze between two plates — can reveal entirely new magnetic behavior and push the field forward, and neutron scattering plays such a critical role in revealing the underlying change in magnetism,” said Feng Ye, an ORNL neutron scientist and co-author on both publications.
ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source is a DOE Office of Science user facility.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
