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The University of Minnesota Twin Cities has made significant research breakthroughs in developing a material that could revolutionize the world of electronics. A study published in Advanced Materials, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, reveals a new understanding of Ni₄W, a combination of nickel and tungsten that produces powerful spin-orbit torque (SOT). This technology has the potential to make computer memory faster and more energy-efficient.

As technology continues to advance, the demand for emerging memory solutions is growing. Researchers are seeking alternatives and complements to existing memory technologies that can perform at high levels with low energy consumption. Ni₄W offers a promising solution, demonstrating a more efficient way to control magnetization in tiny electronic devices.

“Ni₄W reduces power usage for writing data, potentially cutting energy use in electronics significantly,” said Jian-Ping Wang, senior author on the paper and Distinguished McKnight Professor at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. This technology could help reduce the electricity consumption of devices like smartphones and data centers, making future electronics both smarter and more sustainable.

The researchers found that Ni₄W can generate spin currents in multiple directions, enabling “field-free” switching of magnetic states without the need for external magnetic fields. Yifei Yang, a fifth-year Ph.D. student and co-first author on the paper, noted that they observed high SOT efficiency with multi-direction in Ni₄W both on its own and when layered with tungsten.

Ni₄W is made from common metals and can be manufactured using standard industrial processes, making it an attractive option for industry partners. The researchers are excited about the potential of this technology to be implemented into everyday devices like smart watches, phones, and more.

In addition to Wang and Yang, the research team included Seungjun Lee, a postdoctoral fellow and co-first author on the paper, along with several other experts from various departments at the University of Minnesota. This work was supported by SMART (Spintronic Materials for Advanced InforRmation Technologies) and the Global Research Collaboration Logic and Memory program.

The next steps are to grow these materials into a device that is even smaller than their previous work. With continued research, Ni₄W has the potential to revolutionize the world of electronics, enabling faster, more energy-efficient technology for years to come.

Imagine a world where technology could reveal hidden secrets just like magic. Scientists have made a breakthrough in creating artificial optical structures called metasurfaces that can control the way they interact with polarized light. This innovation has potential applications in data encryption, biosensing, and quantum technologies.

The team from the Bionanophotonic Systems Laboratory at EPFL’s School of Engineering collaborated with researchers in Australia to create a “chiral design toolkit” that is elegantly simple yet powerful. By varying the orientation of tiny elements called meta-atoms within a 2D lattice, scientists can control the resulting metasurface’s interaction with polarized light.

The innovation was showcased by encoding two different images on a metasurface optimized for the invisible mid-infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The first image of an Australian cockatoo was encoded in the size of the meta-atoms, which represented pixels, and could be decoded with unpolarized light. The second image of the Swiss Matterhorn was encoded using the orientation of the meta-atoms, so that when exposed to circularly polarized light, the metasurface revealed a picture of the iconic mountain.

“This experiment showcased our technique’s ability to produce a dual layer ‘watermark’ invisible to the human eye, paving the way for advanced anticounterfeiting, camouflage and security applications,” says Ivan Sinev, researcher at the Bionanophotonics Systems Lab.

Beyond encryption, the team’s approach has potential applications in quantum technologies, where polarized light is used to perform computations. The ability to map chiral responses across large surfaces could also streamline biosensing.

“We can use chiral metastructures like ours to sense, for example, drug composition or purity from small-volume samples. Nature is chiral, and the ability to distinguish between left- and right-handed molecules is essential, as it could make the difference between a medicine and a toxin,” says Felix Richter, researcher at the Bionanophotonic Systems Lab.

This breakthrough has opened doors to new possibilities in data encryption, biosensing, and quantum technologies. The future of technology is indeed bright, and twisted light just got a whole lot more interesting.

The article you provided showcases a groundbreaking achievement in materials discovery research. A team of scientists has developed an AI-powered laboratory that can collect at least 10 times more data than previous techniques, drastically expediting the process while slashing costs and environmental impact. This self-driving laboratory combines machine learning and automation with chemical and materials sciences to discover materials more quickly.

The innovation lies in the implementation of dynamic flow experiments, where chemical mixtures are continuously varied through the system and monitored in real-time. This approach generates a vast amount of high-quality data, which is then used by the machine-learning algorithm to make smarter, faster decisions, honing in on optimal materials and processes.

The results are staggering: the self-driving lab can identify the best material candidates on its very first try after training, reducing the number of experiments needed and dramatically cutting down on chemical use and waste. This breakthrough has far-reaching implications for sustainable research practices and society’s toughest challenges.

The article highlights the work of Milad Abolhasani, corresponding author of the paper, who emphasizes that this achievement is not just about speed but also about responsible research practices. The future of materials discovery, he says, is not just about how fast we can go, but also about how responsibly we get there.

The paper, “Flow-Driven Data Intensification to Accelerate Autonomous Materials Discovery,” was published in the journal Nature Chemical Engineering and showcases a collaborative effort from multiple researchers and institutions. The work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the University of North Carolina Research Opportunities Initiative program.