Magnetic Materials
World record magnetic fields reach astonishing 91.4 Tesla
June 29, 2011 6:44 am | News | CommentsAt the High Magnetic Field Laboratory Dresden in Germany on June 22, 2011, researchers flipped the switch, directing current through a 200-kg coil that held two sets of copper wires held together by a special polymer. For a period of a few milliseconds, this double coil sustained a magnetic of 91.4 Tesla, eclipsing the previous record of 89 Tesla.
Magnetic properties of a single proton directly observed for the first time
June 21, 2011 12:28 pm | News | CommentsResearchers in Germany have observed spin quantum-jumps with a single trapped proton for the first time. This observation, obtained using a sophisticated trap, has allowed scientists to determine the magnetic moment of the proton, which is 660 times smaller than that of the electron.
Nano-electronics built with self assembly
June 20, 2011 7:55 am | News | CommentsIn an effort to supply the emergining electronics field of spintronics with a functional component, researchers in Germany took inspiration from self-organization processes in nature to build a magnetically-sensitive nano-component from terbium atoms arranged perfectly along a carbon nanotube.
Ultrathin copper-oxide layers “lose control”, become quantum spin liquid
June 10, 2011 9:21 am | News | CommentsMagnetic studies of ultrathin copper-oxide materials reveal that at low temperatures, the thinnest layers lose their magnetic order. In a surprising discovery that could shed light on superconductivity emergence, Brookhaven Lab observed that these materials become “quantum spin liquid”, a novel state of matter where the orientations of electron spins fluctuate wildly.
Unusual superatoms possess magnetic shells
June 9, 2011 7:27 am | by Sathya Achia Abraham | News | CommentsA team of scientists has discovered a new class of ‘superatoms’, a stable cluster of atoms that can mimic different elements of the periodic table. These, however, have unusual magnetic characteristics owing to the presence of both iron and magnesium atoms. The combined unit, which may be useful in electronics, has the magnetic strength an iron atom with benefit of customized spin orientation of the superatom’s electrons.
Astronauts install big magnet on space station
May 19, 2011 6:36 am | by Marcia Dunn, AP Aerospace Writer | News | CommentsEarly on Thursday, astronauts aboard Endeavour maneuvered the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer into place on the sprawling framework of the International Space Station. The AMS, with its 3-foot magnet and eight sensitive detectors is now the most expensive piece of equipment at the orbiting lab.
NIST nanomagnets offer food for thought about computer memories
April 27, 2011 4:53 am | News | CommentsMagnetics researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) colored lots of eggs recently. Bunnies and children might find the eggs a bit small—in fact, too small to see without a microscope. But these "eggcentric" nanomagnets have another practical use, suggesting strategies for making future low-power computer memories.
Scientists make magnetic graphene discovery
April 14, 2011 7:45 am | News | CommentsA University of Maryland research team has found that missing atoms in graphene, called vacancies, act as tiny magnets. These magnetic moments interact strongly with the electrons in graphene which carry electrical currents, giving rise to electrical resistance at low temperature, known as the Kondo effect. This suggests the possibility of creating “ferromagnetic” graphene through defect engineering.
Ultra-fast magnetic reversal observed
April 14, 2011 7:33 am | News | CommentsIn magnetic memory, data is encoded by reversing the magnetization of tiny points. The speed of this helps us quickly store and retrieve data. For the first time, researchers in Germany explored the limits of reversal, and to their surprise found that some atoms reversed faster than others, causing strong magnetism. If harnessed, this phenomenon could speed read/write times in magnetic data storage devices by a factor of 1,000.
First-ever controllable atom circuit points way to SQUIDs
March 31, 2011 5:24 am | News | CommentsResearchers at NIST and the University of Maryland have made the first nontrivial “atom circuit,” meaning they have assembled a donut-shaped loop of flowing ultracold gas atoms that can be controlled by adjusting a barrier. They are hoping to use this to create a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), which may be a first step toward precision sensors and “atomtronics”.
From tokamaks to stellarators
March 9, 2011 3:43 am | News | CommentsLong-time fusion researcher David Gates recently shifted his focus from tokamoks (symmetric toroidal magnets that have come closest to achieving fusion conditions) to stellerators, another type of complex, curvy fusion-inducing magnet that had been mothballed. Inspired by its potential of steady-state operation, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory physicist is now leading a new effort in stellerator research.
Tracking neural stem cells with magnetism
February 18, 2011 5:21 am | News | CommentsAccording to scientists in the UK and at Caltech, non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging techniques could be used to track neural stem cells after a transplant in order to monitor how the cells heal spinal injuries. The key to the technology is the design of the particles, which are hollow and made of biocompatible cobalt-platinum.
Neutron analysis reveals 'two doors down' superconductivity link
February 8, 2011 3:22 am | News | CommentsNeutron scattering analysis of two families of iron-based materials suggests that the magnetic interactions thought responsible for high-temperature superconductivity may lie "two doors down": The key magnetic exchange pairings occur in a next-nearest-neighbor ordering of atoms, rather than adjacent atoms.
Scientists customize a magnet's performance by strategically replacing key atoms
February 1, 2011 5:56 am | News | CommentsBy replacing key atoms in a gadolinium-germanium magnetic compound with lutetium and lanthanum atoms, researchers at Ames Laboratory have been able to tune its ferromagnetic properties in a measurably way. It’s one of the newest examples of materials by design on the atomic level.
Magnetically controlled pills could boost body's absorption of drugs
January 17, 2011 11:00 am | News | CommentsMany drugs can only be absorbed in very specific parts of the intestine. In a new paper, Brown Univ. scientists describe a new system that can safely hold a magnetic gelatin capsule in place anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract of a rat. In humans, the system could improve drug delivery and pharmacological research.
Liquid pistons could change camera lenses and drug delivery
January 11, 2011 8:25 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed liquid pistons, which can be used to precisely pump small volumes of liquid without the need for solid moving parts. The “pistons” are droplets of nanoparticle-infused ferrofluids, which can also function as liquid lenses that vibrate at high speeds and move in and out of focus as they change shape.
