Hematite Unlocks New Possibilities for Sustainable Data Storage with Spin Waves

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In 2023, researchers at EPFL made a major breakthrough by using charge-free magnetic waves, known as spin waves, to send and store data instead of relying on traditional electron flows. Led by Dirk Grundler at the Lab of Nanoscale Magnetic Materials and Magnonics within EPFL’s School of Engineering, the team used radiofrequency signals to excite spin waves, successfully reversing the magnetization states of tiny nanomagnets.


Switching a nanomagnet from a 0 to a 1 enables it to store digital information, a fundamental process in computer memory and communication technologies. This advance marked a major step toward more sustainable computing, as encoding data with spin waves, whose quasiparticles are called magnons, could eliminate the energy loss from Joule heating inherent in electron-based devices. However, the challenge remained: while they could write new data, they could not yet use spin waves to reset and overwrite existing information.


Now, Grundler’s lab, collaborating with researchers from Beihang University in China, has published a study in Nature Physics that may finally make repeated data encoding possible. Their work centers around hematite, an iron oxide compound that is abundant on Earth and far more environmentally friendly than many materials currently used in spintronics.


"This research shows that hematite isn't just a sustainable alternative to materials like yttrium iron garnet," Grundler said. "It also presents entirely new spin physics that can be harnessed for ultrahigh-frequency signal processing, which is crucial for developing ultrafast spintronic devices and future communication technologies."


Unexpected Discovery of Dual Magnon Modes


The discovery began when Haiming Yu, a former EPFL researcher and now a professor at Beihang University’s Fert Beijing Institute, noticed unusual electrical signals from a platinum stripe device on a hematite sample. Researcher Lutong Sheng measured the strange signals, and Yu's team sent the device back to EPFL for further analysis.


While examining the magnon signals, Grundler noticed a distinctive "wiggle" in the spatial distribution of the spin waves—an observation that led to the discovery of an interference pattern between two separate magnon modes. EPFL Ph.D. student Anna Duvakina confirmed the finding using light scattering microscopy.


Most magnetic materials, such as yttrium iron garnet, support only a single magnon mode. However, hematite revealed two distinct magnon modes, a critical advantage. This dual-mode behavior means that spin currents could potentially switch between opposing polarizations, enabling the magnetization state of nanomagnets to flip back and forth—essential for overwriting stored digital information.





The next step for the team is to mount a nanomagnet onto the hematite device to test repeated data writing and erasing in practice.


"Hematite has been known for thousands of years, yet its magnetism was considered too weak for practical uses," Grundler noted. "Now we see it outperforming materials specifically optimized for microwave electronics decades ago."


"This is the beauty of scientific discovery: taking an ancient, Earth-abundant material and finding a cutting-edge application that could revolutionize sustainable spintronics."
 
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