It is the thinnest magnet in the world, and the record should not be broken anytime soon … Since its thickness is only one atom! Moreover, researchers at the University of California (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) at the origin of its manufacture qualify it as an object with two dimensions: length and width. The thickness being in fact negligible … “We are the first to manufacture a chemically stable 2D magnet under ambient temperature and pressure conditions.”, Welcomes the website of Berkeley Labs Jie Yao, one of the study’s co-authors. “This discovery is exciting not only because it is about two-dimensional magnetism, but also because it allows to explore a new mechanism to achieve it.”, Adds Rui Chen, also of Berkeley. Until now, 2D magnets have lost their magnetism at room temperature. This keeps it up to 100 ° C, which is a major advance for electronic applications.
Cook a solution of zinc oxide and cobalt to get this magnet
The magnet consists of a monolayer of zinc oxide, doped with cobalt atoms which cause the material to magnetize. To prepare this monolayer, the researchers used a solution of graphene oxide, zinc and cobalt. Baking makes it possible to obtain a layer of zinc oxide doped with cobalt, sandwiched between two layers of graphene. It is then necessary to burn the latter to obtain the magnet. Magnetism arises from the alignment of the magnetic moments of cobalt atoms. To prevent them from moving in all directions under the effect of temperature in particular, which would remove the overall magnetization of the material, the researchers had the idea of using the free electrons provided by zinc oxide. . These electrons constitute a tiny electric current which helps to maintain the orientation of the magnetic moments of the cobalt. According to the authors of the study, the relatively simple “recipe” leading to these magnets should allow rapid industrialization of the process.
Store more information in less space
Magnetic materials are used in electronics for the storage of information. The ability to have ultra-thin magnets would allow more data to be stored in less space. Enough to develop even more compact and efficient computers, tablets and smartphones. These magnets would also be of great use in fundamental science, in the study of the quantum properties of matter. “Our atom-thick magnet provides an optimal platform for probing the quantum world, explique Jie Yao. It opens up the possibility of examining each atom involved in magnetism individually, and could reveal how quantum physics governs the interactions between them. With a conventional thick magnet, where most of these atoms are buried deep inside the material, such studies would be quite difficult to do..”
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