UD and WVU collaborate on NSF-funded research to develop electrically controlled magnetic materials
Magnetic materials are widely used to store information in devices such as hard drives, but controlling their magnetic states requires generating a magnetic field. Developing materials that allow electricity to control magnetism directly could lead to more energy-efficient technologies and smaller devices that integrate magnetic memory with electronics.
The key lies in controlling electron spin, a quantum property that drives magnetic behavior. This field of research, known as spintronics, explores how magnetic spins can be harnessed for next-generation electronic devices. A new collaborative effort led by West Virginia University in partnership with the University of Delaware will advance this research with funding from the National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR).
The team will develop magnetic materials that switch states using only electrical pulses. They will explore a recently identified class of magnetic materials called altermagnets, which combine some of the properties of ferromagnets, whose magnetic moments align, and antiferromagnets, whose magnetic moments oppose one another. The project will also study how light can control spin in nanoscale semiconductor structures.
“We’re trying to understand the properties of these novel materials at a fundamental level and then ask: How can we put them into a device or use them for future technologies?” said Ryan Comes, associate professor of materials science and engineering at UD and co-principal investigator of the project.
At UD, Comes will work with colleagues Joshua Zide and John Xiao. Together, the three researchers’ expertise spans materials synthesis, spintronics and magnetic characterization. Comes and Zide will make the materials for the project, each specializing in different classes of materials. Xiao, UNIDEL professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will help bridge the gap between creating materials and understanding how they could function in devices.
WVU’s team, led by principal investigator Mikel Holcomb, brings complementary strengths in materials characterization, including synchrotron measurements and optical spectroscopy.
“They have characterization capabilities that differ from what we can do here at UD, and we have exceptional synthesis capabilities, including those available through our Materials Growth Facility,” said Zide, professor and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. “Growing a material here and sending it to WVU for detailed characterization combines our strengths to move the research forward.”
The four-year, $4 million collaborative project includes nearly $1.4 million for UD, builds on existing UD-WVU relationships, and will open new opportunities for students and researchers to work across institutions. WVU will host a summer school on quantum materials, and researchers from both universities will travel between campuses to conduct experiments and share expertise.
Ultimately, the researchers hope to develop materials that make it possible to control magnetism directly with electricity, reducing the energy needed to switch magnetic states and paving the way for smaller, more energy-efficient devices for computing and sensing.
Funding is provided under NSF award number 2614999.