Researchers from Japan's RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) and Ochanomizu University, UK's  University of Birmingham, Sweden's Lund University, Canada's Université de Sherbrooke, Czech Republic's Nuclear Physics Institute, France's Institut Max von Laue-Paul Langevin (ILL) have advanced low-energy devices based on spintronics, by measuring the dynamics of tiny magnetic vortices.

The team examined the low-energy excitations of the skyrmion state in MnSi by using the neutron spin-echo technique under small-angle neutron scattering conditions. The scientists observed an asymmetric dispersion of the phason excitations of the lattice because of the string-like structure of the skyrmion cores.

Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), led by Associate Prof. Li Xingxing and Prof. Yang Jinlong, recently developed a novel chemical method for two-dimensional metal-organic lattices.

In spintronics, it is paramount to develop an efficient way to reversibly control the spin order of materials. Though various physical methods have been proposed, chemically achieving this has posed significant challenges. The researchers proposed the utilization of the well-recognized lactim−lactam tautomerization process to reversibly modulate the magnetic phase transition in two-dimensional (2D) organometallic lattices. This could offer new pathways for controlling the electrical and magnetic characteristics of materials.

Researchers at China's Hefei University of Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, South China University of Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Anhui University, Australia's RMIT University, University of New South Wales, Saudi Arabia's Al-Baha University and University of Jeddah have reported magnetism in a quasi-2D magnet Cr_1.2Te₂, observed at room temperature (290 K). 

By intercalating protons into van der Waals ferromagnet Cr_1.2Te₂ nanoflakes, the group of researchers successfully induced a room-temperature magnetic phase transition from ferromagnetism to antiferromagnetism.

Scientists at Delft University of Technology have used superconducting diamagnetism to shape the magnetic environment governing the transport of spin waves—collective spin excitations in magnets that are promising on-chip signal carriers—in a thin-film magnet. 

The team has shown that it’s possible to control and manipulate spin waves on a chip using superconductors for the first time. These tiny waves in magnets may offer an alternative to electronics in the future, interesting for energy-efficient information technology or connecting pieces in a quantum computer, for example. The results of this work give scientists new insight into the interaction between magnets and superconductors.

Researchers from the groups of Prof. Herre Van der Zant at TU Delft and Prof. Yara Galvão Gobato at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCAR) have teamed up to explore Van der Waals Heterostructures for Spintronics via a recent SPRINT grant. The goal of the collaboration was to combine the expertise of two labs: Van der Zant group’s on fabricating heterostructures involving two-dimensional magnetic materials and Galvão Gobato group’s on optical measurements on semiconductors.

The teams visited each other's countries to see the research facilities, meet researchers and discuss opportunities of complementary studies on the physical properties of 2D heterostructures. They also established the design of samples which were prepared in the Netherlands and Brazil, planned several optical experiments in Brazil, presented seminaries for researchers and students from Brazil and the Netherlands, discussed the preliminarily results and draft publications. They also discussed a possible long-term joint research project in van der Waals heterostructures based on 2D magnetic materials.

Researchers from The Ohio State University in the U.S, Uppsala University in Sweden and the UK's University of Exeter have used a novel technique to confirm a previously undetected physics phenomenon that could be used to improve data storage in the next generation of computer devices.

Spintronic memories, like those used in some high-tech computers and satellites, use magnetic states generated by an electron's intrinsic angular momentum to store and read information. Depending on its physical motion, an electron's spin produces a magnetic current. Known as the "spin Hall effect," this has key applications for magnetic materials across many different fields, ranging from low power electronics to fundamental quantum mechanics.

Sensor specialist startup Neuranics has secured a $2.3 million investment led by Par Equity. GU Holdings, the investment company for the University of Glasgow, Old College Capital, the University of Edinburgh’s venture investment fund, and London-based Creator Fund, who back scientific founding teams, also participated in the pre-seed round.

Founded in 2021 as a joint spinout from the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh, Neuranics develops pioneering magnetic sensors integrated with semiconductor technology for health, fitness, and metaverse applications. Neuranics’s patented technology uses scalable spintronics sensors powered by semiconductors to detect tiny magnetic signals from organs in the body – for example the heart and muscles of the arms, which the company says could transform the current shortcomings of health monitoring devices and human-machine interfaces.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo, NIST and McMaster University have used neutron imaging and a reconstruction algorithm to reveal for the first time the 3D shapes and dynamics of skyrmions in bulk materials.

The combined image reveals the shape and length of the skyrmion tubes, which vary in response to defects encountered in the surrounding material lattice. Credit: Phys.org, adapted from Nature Physics (2023)

The team is exploring a promising spintronic candidate, a magnetic skyrmion, which is a vortex-like formation of atoms. It arises naturally in certain kinds of atomic lattices in response to magnetic and electrical properties of the surrounding atoms. Skyrmions are typically in the range of 20 to 200 nanometers (billionths of a meter) in size. 

Here are some recent and popular news that you may find of interest:

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• Unconventional magnetism found at the surface of Sr2RuO4
• Singapore’s National Research Foundation gives 'substantial funding' for developing spintronics devices

Researchers from Tohoku University, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guangxi Normal University, Kyushu University and Japan Atomic Energy Agency have reported a significant breakthrough which could revolutionize next-generation electronics by enabling non-volatility, large-scale integration, low power consumption, high speed, and high reliability in spintronic devices.

Spintronic devices, such as magnetic random access memory (MRAM), utilize the magnetization direction of ferromagnetic materials for information storage and rely on spin current, a flow of spin angular momentum, for reading and writing data. Conventional semiconductor electronics have faced limitations in achieving these qualities. However, the emergence of three-terminal spintronic devices, which employ separate current paths for writing and reading information, presents a solution with reduced writing errors and increased writing speed. Nevertheless, the challenge of reducing energy consumption during information writing, specifically magnetization switching, remains a critical concern.