Researchers have built a tiny nanostructure that could make the next generation of electronic devices smaller and more energy efficient.
The nanostructure is made out of atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials, which are similar to graphene but with different properties. It consists of a magnetic layer, in which the north and south poles can be flipped or reversed, underneath a light emitting semiconductor layer, which glows brighter or dimmer and switches optical polarization depending on the orientation of the magnetic poles beneath.
The poles of the magnet can be thought of in the same way as the binary system of ones and zeroes which underpins all digital information and communication technologies. In this way, the device can store information in the orientation of its magnetic poles. And, through the semiconductor layer emission, the pole orientation can be "read-out" entirely optically, without the need for any microelectronics.
Using light, rather than electricity, to interact with the nanostructure means that less power is wasted through heating, while communication becomes many times faster. And because the nanostructure is on the atomic scale, it means that microchips using this technology in the future could take up less space to store more data.
Dr Thomas Lyons, a Research Fellow in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, said: "Two-dimensional magnets working on the atomic scale are only a very recent discovery, previously thought to be physically impossible. This has sparked a global race to find out how their unique properties can be harnessed for next-generation technology.
"In Sheffield, we essentially found that we can stack a different, light emitting, 2D material on top of a 2D magnet, to create a nanostructure with hybrid magnetic and optical properties, in which the magnetic state is imprinted in its light emission characteristics. Such a result demonstrates how these atomically thin devices may find use in future light-based communication and data hardware."
The study, which has been published in Nature Communications, was led by researchers in Sheffield including Professor Alexander Tartakovskii, in collaboration with the Universities of Manchester and Exeter in the UK, the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Portugal, and the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan.
