A uranium compound that has received little scientific attention for decades has been found to contain a previously unknown atomic structure with unusual magnetic properties. The discovery could help researchers identify materials capable of supporting faster, more resilient computer memory.
Scientists discovered a repeating, twisted arrangement of atoms known as a chiral superlattice inside uranium oxytelluride (UOTe). The structure appears to play a central role in how electrons move through the crystal, which exhibits an uncommon combination of two different types of magnetism. The findings were published online October 7 in Nature.
Dr. Mengke Liu, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Texas at Dallas, discovered the structure while examining crystals synthesized by Dr. Sheng Ran, an associate professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis. Liu began studying the material while working as a Harvard Quantum Initiative Postdoctoral Fellow, before joining UT Dallas in 2025. Using transmission electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy, she investigated the crystal at atomic resolution.
“I was originally studying this material for an entirely different reason,” Liu said. “When I examined it with high-resolution microscopy, I found a naturally occurring superstructure no one had recognized before.”
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