Physicists Magnetize a Material with Light

[physicsguy]

> scientists believe antiferromagnetic materials could be a more robust alternative to existing magnetic-based storage technologies

Scientists working on interesting anti-ferromagnetic materials need a justification for doing so under the crazy grant system we operate, more like.

The downside of antiferromagnetic data storage, or skyrmion storage, or any of the other various ideas recently, is that reading the data is very difficult even if it is present, to the point of making a real world device pretty much practically impossible. I know, I also worked on this sort of thing before leaving academia!

[reillys]

Knowledge in itself is good. We don’t need everything to have a direct commercial application. In fact most discoveries by their nature do not have directly applicable commercial applications.

[HenryBemis]

Like every other scientific discovery, weaponize it. I can imagine a few ways that one can disable advanced weaponry or cause harmful/adverse effects to weaponry, computer systems, and/or ammunition. I imagine that such a solution would cause the desired harm something without leaving a trace.

I don't see "distance" mentioned on the article, but I did see a temperature (118 K = -155 C)(which make it (currently) impossible to use outside a lab). The breakthrough is here though, and now someone must already be at work to see if this can be operated in battlefield/real-life conditions.

I remember on TBBT when they made a gyroscope-thingie-invention but it was 'THIS' big, and the army officer was pressing them to remake it 'that' small so it can be fitted on missiles (or whatever). Isn't this how it typically happens?

[okwhateverdude]

> the team worked with FePS3 — a material that transitions to an antiferromagnetic phase at a critical temperature of around 118 kelvins (-247 degrees Fahrenheit). > [...] > They placed the sample in a vacuum chamber and cooled it down to temperatures at and below 118 K.

I feel like this massive caveat was buried half way through the article. This is why I dislike university press. I mean, the wizardry is impressive, but it isn't gonna revolutionize anything anytime soon if it requires a vacuum and liquid Krypton-ish temperatures.

[pbhjpbhj]

>but it isn't gonna revolutionize anything anytime soon

Reminds me of CCD. Back in the day CCD only worked effectively at liquid nitrogen temperatures; a couple of decades of development and you could have one in a pocket camera.

Maybe that's what you meant.

[Tade0]

It's not that bad - 118K is slightly above the boiling point of LNG(~112K), so achievable at scale.

[52-6F-62]

That’s good. Ideally we won’t have a scattering of profit seeking engineering firms casting magnetic fields everywhere when we have the most cursory scientific understanding of high spin metals in the brain.

If anything, we might reassess our current usage…

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8189590/

https://web.stanford.edu/group/solomon/research.html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266652202...

[hanniabu]

Could be useful in space where those are the default conditions

[mjfl]

It’s basic research

[mensetmanusman]

So it works at room temperature in low earth orbit.

[kolanos]

Could it have a practical use in space? Which is both already a vacuum and close to absolute zero temperature wise?

[megablast]

Exactly. I can’t believe they published something if we can’t buy it and use it right now.

[westurner]

"Researchers discover new material for optically-controlled magnetic memory" (2024) https://phys.org/news/2024-08-material-optically-magnetic-me... ..

"Distinguishing surface and bulk electromagnetism via their dynamics in an intrinsic magnetic topological insulator" (2024) https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn5696

> MnBi2Te4

ScholarlyArticle: "Terahertz field-induced metastable magnetization near criticality in FePS3" (2024) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08226-x

"Room temperature chirality switching and detection in a helimagnetic MnAu2 thin film" (2024) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46326-4 .. https://scitechdaily.com/memory-breakthrough-helical-magnets... .. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41921153

[neuroelectron]

Terahertz radiation falls in between infrared radiation and microwave radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum, and it shares some properties with each of these. I find it weird they used this term throughout the article.

[DarkSucker]

Thanks! I'm sick and couldn't bring myself to do the wavelength calculation. Your comment helped my thoughts. I think people working on microwave equipment (frequency counters, ...) work in Hz.That's probably why they used the term.

[anthk]

Current Physics look like a Zorkian/Discworldian tale.

[Terr_]

At least for Discworld, I'd argue the causation was the other way around: The books parodied real things, often injecting a fantastic aspect with the subtext of "All you people in the real world should be a lot more amazed at what's going on here."

For example, "hyphenated silicon" (semiconductor doping) involved in how rock trolls think, and the catch-all explanation of "because quantum."

[bilsbie]

Can we create matter from light?

[philipkglass]

Indeed we can:

https://www.energy.gov/science/np/articles/making-matter-col...

Scientists find strong evidence for the long-predicted Breit-Wheeler effect—generating matter and antimatter from collisions of real photons.

[anyfoo]

So instead of magneto-optic media, we can now have opto-magnetic media?

[metalman]

a material

keep in mind that ALL materials are photo reactive in one way or another, and that the realistic number of possible materials, is infinite* All materials are conductive in some way or condition, think : superconductors . Molecular strength engineering materials are something else waiting in the wings of material sciences. Main point is that, this is still early days with the full effects of bench top vs building size equipment used in research, to show.

* hugely, massive, wow big make you dizzy, number

[skywal_l]

Tractor beam!

[busyant]

Given your comment, you may like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_tweezers

[moi2388]

“ Antiferromagnets could be incorporated into future memory chips that store and process more data while using less energy”

“using a terahertz laser”

#doubt

[qoez]

Maybe the outlandish future star trek etc promised will come into fruition after all

[kleiba]

Gotta love the picture of the three, because it is not staged.

[Nevermark]

It is hard to stage an unstaged photo. You would have to hide behind some equipment and wait for them to work, and at the same time, on the same thing. Hopefully when it was going well.

Wild life photographers probably have some tips.

[brcmthrowaway]

Isnt all light terahertz light?

[spauldo]

Only if you define light as radiation your eyes are sensitive to. In scientific articles, it usually means all frequencies.

[tempodox]

Nope, terahertz range, even 999.9 THz, is way too low a frequency to be visible as light for us.

[hexo]

hm, electromagnetic field is light. it was light all the time.