Researchers with the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) Hangu Chui et al have recently put a new spin on the well-understood technology behind magnets. While that may sound simplistic at first sight (how much better can a magnet become, after all?), the research unlocks new material applications. Magnets (and electromagnetism itself) being the basis of entire computational systems, improvements to base magnetic materials are expected to bring high-impact improvements to our handling of these fundamental forces.
Taking advantage of quantum effects, the researchers managed to control the anomalous Hall effect and Berry curvature, two fundamental physics barriers that stood against attempts of being put to work in a way that'd be useful for us. The research team's new paper, published in Nature, sheds some light on the usage of chromium telluride as a way to take advantage of both effects to both improve efficiency and performance. The impacted areas? Anywhere magnets matter: ranging through computation, electronics, and robotics.
