April 2023

The discovery of new quantum materials with magnetic properties could pave the way for ultra-fast and considerably more energy-efficient computers and mobile devices. So far, however, these types of materials have been shown to work only at extremely cold temperatures. Now, for the first time, a research team at Chalmers University of Technology, Lund University and Uppsala University in Sweden has created a two-dimensional (2D) magnetic quantum material that works at room temperature.

Today’s rapid expansion of information technology (IT) is generating massive amounts of digital data that needs to be stored, processed and communicated. This requires energy, and IT is projected to account for over 30% of the world’s total energy consumption by 2050. To solve this problem, the research community is entering a new paradigm in materials science. The research and development of 2D quantum materials is opening new doors for sustainable, faster and more energy-efficient data storage and processing in computers and mobiles.

Researchers at the Max Born Institute in Germany recently discovered a method for inducing and controlling the flow of spin and valley currents in ultrafast timeframes, using specially designed laser pulses. This discovery could offer a novel perspective on the search for the next generation of information technologies.

Ultrafast laser control over the basic quantum properties of matter is a critical challenge that must be addressed to develop future information technologies beyond the semiconductor electronics that define our current era. Electron spin and valley index, an emergent property of two-dimensional materials related to quasiparticle momentum, are two promising quantum properties in this regard. Both spintronics and valleytronics offer many potential advantages over classical electronics in terms of data manipulation speed and energy efficiency. While spin excitations suffer from a dynamic loss of character due to spin-orbit-induced spin precession, the valley wavefunction represents a more stable "data bit" that is only threatened by intervalley scattering, a feature controllable by sample quality. Valleytronics thus presents a potentially robust platform for moving beyond classical electronics.

Researchers have found that lasers can generate stable patterns of electron spins in a thin layer of semiconductor material, a discovery that may help lead to advanced spin-based memory and computing. The scientists have revealed that lasers could generate complex stable patterns of electron spins called “spin textures” in thin films of semiconductors. These spin textures could help lead to what may be the holy grail of spintronics, a superefficient spin-based transistor.

The new findings are based on how light has momentum, just as a physical object moving through space does, even though light does not have mass. This means that light shining on an object can exert a force. Whereas the linear momentum of light supplies a push in the direction that light is moving, the angular momentum of light applies torque.

Researchers from North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),  National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Duke University, Wayne State University and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have created a mixed magnon state in an organic hybrid perovskite material by utilizing the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya-Interaction (DMI).

The resulting material has potential for processing and storing quantum computing information. The work also expands the number of potential materials that can be used to create hybrid magnonic systems.