A promising class of materials could help dramatically reduce the electricity needed for computing, but a persistent problem has kept them out of computer chips. When these materials are made thin enough for modern electronics, the electrical and magnetic properties that make them valuable can disappear.
Researchers at Brown University have now developed a way to overcome this limitation. Their technique produces ultrathin films of bismuth ferrite that retain their essential properties and develop an additional form of magnetism with potential advantages for future computing devices. The findings were published in Nature Materials.
Bismuth ferrite belongs to a class of materials called multiferroics, which have interconnected electrical and magnetic properties. Within their crystalline structures, positive and negative charges are displaced in opposite directions, creating electrical polarization. Applying a small voltage can reverse that polarization, allowing information to be stored as binary data (ones and zeros). Because the electrical and magnetic states are linked, the stored information could also be read magnetically, potentially enabling memory and logic devices that consume far less power.
To read more, click here.