Spintronics-Info - Spintronics Industry Portal

Lattice strain induces altermagnetic spin texture in ultrathin ruthenium dioxide

Roni Peleg — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 15:00:07 +0300

Researchers at Rice University, together with the University of Minnesota and Switzerland's Paul Scherrer Institute, working with contributing researchers from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Kyung Hee University, and Myongji University in South Korea, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of West Bohemia in the Czech Republic, and beamline scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source and Brookhaven National Laboratory's National Synchrotron Light Source II, have found that ultrathin, epitaxially strained films of ruthenium dioxide (RuO₂) display a spin texture consistent with altermagnetism, a form of magnetic order the material's bulk and thick-film forms have consistently failed to show despite RuO₂ standing for years as one of altermagnetism's leading candidate materials.

Illustration of strain-induced emergent magnetism in ultrathin RuO₂/TiO₂. Possible theoretic altermagnetic spin density is rendered with orange and blue visual effects in the top RuO₂ layers using AI. Credit: Rice University/Yichen Zhang.

Using spin-resolved angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) on a 2.7-nanometer-thick, substrate-strained RuO₂ film, the team observed a spin texture combining mirror-odd and mirror-even components that a comprehensive symmetry analysis rules out explaining through nonmagnetic effects, pointing instead to intrinsically broken time-reversal symmetry.

Gate-tunable spin bands in graphene point toward low-voltage spin transistors

Roni Peleg — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 15:00:13 +0300

Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS), led by Assistant Professor Ahmet Avsar of the university's Centre for Advanced 2D Materials, have combined a record-fidelity graphene spin-transport platform with magnetic-proximity band engineering to move graphene closer to practical spin-logic and spin-memory devices, across two complementary studies. The work targets one of graphene spintronics' core limitations: interfacial disorder at the electrical contacts that inject and detect spin, which has historically scrambled spin information before it can be read out electrically.

The first study rebuilt the graphene spin-device fabrication process around an inert-glovebox van der Waals assembly, laminating and cleaning the stack to produce atomically flat hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) tunnel barriers rather than the oxide barriers more commonly used in graphene spin valves. That interface quality translated directly into device performance: nonlocal spin signals reached up to 1.6 kΩ at 2.5 K, spin polarization approached 90% (89% in the lead device), spin lifetime measured about 2.04 nanoseconds with a spin diffusion length of about 4.74 μm, and gate-tunable magnetoresistance exceeded 80%. Critically for eventual device use, the effect persisted at room temperature, where the same device retained a nonlocal spin resistance of about 160 Ω and roughly 42% spin polarization.

WVU, UD win $4M NSF award to develop electrically switched magnetic materials

Roni Peleg — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 15:00:12 +0300

West Virginia University, in partnership with the University of Delaware, has been awarded a four-year, $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR) to develop magnetic materials that can be switched using electrical pulses alone, without an applied magnetic field. The project, titled "Spin Control via Topology, Symmetry and Dimensionality," is led by WVU physicist Mikel Holcomb, with UD co-principal investigator Ryan Comes and colleagues Joshua Zide and John Xiao; UD's share of the award comes to close to $1.4 million.

Magnetic materials already anchor widely used memory technologies such as hard drives, but changing their magnetic state normally requires generating a magnetic field, a comparatively energy-hungry and hard-to-miniaturize approach. Controlling magnetism directly with electricity instead, by manipulating electron spin, could enable more energy-efficient memory and tighter integration of magnetic storage with conventional electronics, one of the central goals driving spintronics research.

CrSBr spin transistor switches by voltage or magnetism, reaches million-percent on/off ratio

Roni Peleg — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0300

Researchers at Boston College, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague and Japan's National Institute for Materials Science have built a spin transistor that can be switched either electrically or magnetically from within a single two-dimensional device, using the van der Waals magnetic semiconductor chromium sulfur bromide (CrSBr). The device reaches an electrical on/off ratio of a million percent and a magnetic on/off ratio of 3,000 percent, which the team says is well above what prior spin-transistor efforts have achieved.

The work targets the "von Neumann bottleneck": the energy and speed cost of continually shuttling data, including the billions of parameters in large AI models, between separate compute and memory blocks on a chip. A long-standing goal in spintronics is a single "spin transistor" device that combines a magnetic bit with a semiconducting switch, so it can compute and store data at once. Historically, building one has meant physically joining two different materials, a magnet and a semiconductor, together. "By engineering a single van der Waals crystal, CrSBr, that inherently possesses both semiconducting and magnetic properties, we eliminate losses at interfaces entirely," said Zdeněk Sofer, a materials-synthesis specialist at the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague.

Researchers find magnetic skyrmions diffuse asymmetrically in structured environments

Roni Peleg — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 13:12:17 +0300

A research team led by Masahito Mochizuki and Xichao Zhang at Waseda University, working with collaborators from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Nanjing University, and the University of York, has shown that magnetic skyrmions can diffuse asymmetrically when confined to a structured environment, moving more readily in one direction than the other even though their underlying thermal motion is random. The work proposes topology and geometry as a new lever for controlling diffusion, with potential relevance to unconventional, physics-based computing hardware.

Skyrmions are particle-like, topologically protected spin textures that can be nudged into motion by tiny thermal fluctuations, and prior work has documented behaviors, such as wall-guided "Brownian gyromotion," that ordinary particles don't exhibit. Directional or asymmetric diffusion of particle-like systems has drawn growing interest for unconventional AI hardware, where geometry rather than circuitry could shape how information propagates. Until now, though, how skyrmions diffuse in structured, chamber-like environments, as opposed to open thin films, had been largely unexplored.

Bifacial ladder polymers hit over 90% spin polarization via chirality-induced spin selectivity

Roni Peleg — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 10:37:52 +0300

Researchers at Osaka University have designed "bifacial" ladder polymers - rigid, double-stranded polymer backbones with two deliberately different molecular faces - that show chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS) exceeding ±90%, among the highest spin-polarization values reported for an organic chiral material.

The team's key innovation is a chirality-assisted synthesis: a C₂-chiral bifacial monomer, built with two different substituents in a syn arrangement, is polymerized so the resulting ladder polymer keeps a uniform facial orientation along the entire chain. That regioselective, "one-handed" backbone is what earlier bifacial polymer designs struggled to control. Thin films of the resulting homochiral polymer self-assemble into one-handed supramolecular helices, with circular dichroism signals over 100 times stronger than non-ladder or monomeric references, and the chiral structure survives brief exposure to 300°C.

Strain reverses anomalous Hall effect sign in altermagnetic manganese telluride

Roni Peleg — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:33:25 +0300

Researchers at Rice University, with contributing authors from the University of Washington, the University of Houston, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, have used mechanical strain to control and reverse the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in hexagonal manganese telluride (α-MnTe), a recently identified altermagnet.

Altermagnets are a newly recognized class of magnetic order in which moments are arranged so that time-reversal symmetry is broken - enabling ferromagnet-like effects such as spin splitting and the anomalous Hall effect - while net magnetization remains vanishingly small. That near-absence of stray magnetic fields makes altermagnets attractive for spintronic devices, but it also makes them difficult to probe: α-MnTe naturally forms three magnetic domains oriented 120 degrees apart, and their signals average out in standard neutron diffraction measurements, obscuring the true direction of the in-plane magnetic moments.

IIT Bhubaneswar team predicts rare "i-wave" altermagnetism in a three-atom-thick monolayer

Roni Peleg — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:00:09 +0300

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar, led by Dr. Manish Kumar Mohanta of the Department of Physics, working with collaborators at Virginia Commonwealth University in the US, have theoretically predicted that a monolayer of iron trichloride (FeCl₃), just three atoms thick, can host i-wave altermagnetism, one of the rarer symmetry classes within the recently identified altermagnetic phase.

Altermagnetism has drawn growing interest in condensed matter physics because it combines features of both ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. Like antiferromagnets, altermagnetic materials produce essentially no stray magnetic fields, which means electronic components built from them can be packed closer together without magnetic interference. At the same time, they can generate and control spin-polarized electric currents, the property that makes them relevant to spintronics, where information is encoded in electron spin as well as charge.

Researchers design a roadmap for single-molecule spintronic devices

Roni Peleg — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:00:09 +0300

Researchers led by Xuefeng Guo of Peking University and Chuancheng Jia of Nankai University, together with Mingliang Li of the University of Hong Kong and Beijing Institute of Technology, have published a comprehensive review outlining how individual molecules can be used to encode, manipulate and detect electron spin, laying out a roadmap toward ultra-compact, low-power spintronic and molecular-scale quantum information devices.

Image from: Nano Research

The review surveys the molecular building blocks that make single-molecule spintronics possible - single-molecule magnets, spin-crossover complexes, organic radicals and chiral molecules - each offering a different route to control spin at the single-molecule level, from the large magnetic anisotropy and slow relaxation of single-molecule magnets to the switchable spin selectivity chiral molecules generate without any magnetic field via the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect. Measurement techniques such as spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy and electron spin resonance, combined with gated molecular junctions, have let researchers observe and manipulate spin transport, coherence and many-body effects such as the Kondo effect directly at the single-molecule scale.

Hebrew University team develops contactless method to measure spin-selective charge separation in chiral perovskites

Roni Peleg — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:06:01 +0300

Researchers at the Institute of Chemistry and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, led by Dr. Joanna Dehnel and Dr. Igal Levine, have introduced a contactless technique for probing how chiral 2D perovskites respond differently to circularly polarized light, without first building the material into a complete electronic device.

Chiral perovskites exist in two mirror-image forms, much like a left and right hand, and are of growing interest for spintronics and optoelectronics because their crystal structure can couple light polarization, electrical charge and electron spin without requiring an external magnetic field. Studying that coupling has traditionally meant fabricating a full device with metal contacts, a step that can introduce defects and other artifacts that obscure the material's intrinsic electronic response. To get around this, the team developed circularly polarized time-resolved surface photovoltage (CP-TRSPV), a technique that tracks how electrical charges separate inside the material under circularly polarized illumination, without a top electrical contact. The method can follow the resulting signal over an unusually wide time window, from nanoseconds to milliseconds.

Researchers find a Kondo-like quantum effect behind nonreciprocal transport in chiral magnets

Roni Peleg — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:00:08 +0300

Researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo, led by Hiroaki Ishizuka, have developed a quantum-mechanical theory explaining a puzzling electrical behavior in chiral magnets, tracing it to a scattering mechanism related to the decades-old Kondo effect.

Image credit: Institute of Science Tokyo, from Phys.org

Chiral magnets are materials whose atomic-scale magnetic moments twist into helices, vortices and other complex spin textures. One consequence of this chirality is nonreciprocal current: electric current flows more easily in one direction through the material than the other, an effect of growing interest for magnetic sensing and spintronic devices. Most prior theoretical treatments modeled the magnetic moments in these systems as classical, localized spins, even though experiments in materials such as MnSi suggest quantum fluctuations play a significant role - a gap the new theory sets out to close.

Researchers use an electric field to reversibly switch phonon chirality in a ferroelectric crystal

Roni Peleg — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 11:44:32 +0300

Researchers at North Carolina State University, Portland State University and the Air Force Research Laboratory, have demonstrated electrical, reversible control over the "handedness" of chiral phonons in a ferroelectric crystal - a capability the team says could lead to faster, more energy-efficient spintronic devices.

Chiral phonons are collective vibrations that move through a material's atomic lattice in a circular motion, carrying angular momentum that can be transferred to electron spins, giving materials a spintronic function without requiring any magnetic ordering. The NC State group previously showed this angular momentum could generate spin current from a simple thermal gradient in a 2D hybrid perovskite. Until now, though, chiral phonons had only been observed passively - the ability to actively switch their handedness on demand had not been demonstrated. For the new work, the team turned to triglycine sulfate (TGS), a molecular ferroelectric crystal in which structural chirality and ferroelectric polarization are intrinsically coupled: flipping one necessarily flips the other.

Strain switches on altermagnetism in ultrathin ruthenium dioxide films, addressing a years-long debate

Roni Peleg — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 17:12:46 +0300

Researchers led by Rice University, the University of Minnesota, and the Paul Scherrer Institute - with additional collaborators at Kyung Hee University, the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Myongji University, the University of West Bohemia, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - have found spin texture consistent with altermagnetism in ultrathin, epitaxially strained films of ruthenium dioxide (RuO₂), a material whose magnetic status has been debated for years.

Altermagnetism is a recently proposed third class of collinear magnetic order, alongside ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism, in which compensated magnetic sublattices are related by rotation rather than by translation. That symmetry produces momentum-dependent spin splitting in a material's electronic structure even though it carries no net magnetization - a combination that could be useful for miniaturizing and improving RAM architecture in computers. RuO₂ was one of the first materials proposed as an altermagnetic candidate, but a long line of studies on its bulk and strain-relaxed thick-film forms - using x-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, muon spin rotation, infrared spectroscopy, quantum oscillations, torque magnetometry and other probes - had converged on the conclusion that RuO₂ shows no magnetism at all, leaving the field in a persistent state of debate.

Researchers demonstrate spintronic probabilistic processors that outpace CPUs on optimization problems

Roni Peleg — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:14:00 +0300

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS), together with collaborators from the University of Messina, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Politecnico di Bari and Peking University, have reported two spintronic probabilistic computing systems that accelerate combinatorial optimization while cutting energy consumption. The work, led by Prof. Yang Hyunsoo of the NUS Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was published as a pair of papers.

Both systems are built around magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) operated deliberately in their stochastic regime. Rather than treating thermal fluctuations as a source of error to be suppressed, the devices are used as compact, tunable true random number generators - the physical substrate for probabilistic bits.

Orbital currents enable the first purely orbitronic device for future memory technologies

Roni Peleg — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 10:47:50 +0300

A research team led by Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, which also included Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA, The University of Tokyo, HZB and Institut Polytechnique de Paris, has demonstrated a purely orbitronic device concept in which orbital currents are used directly, without conversion into spin currents, to generate exceptionally large magnetoresistance signals in antiferromagnetic heterostructures.

Building on recent predictions that orbital current effects can exceed spin-current effects by orders of magnitude, the team shows that these giant orbital currents can be harnessed in practice by replacing conventional spin-dominated magnets with magnets dominated by orbital angular momentum (OAM). This work, led by Dr. Christin Schmitt in the group of Professor Mathias Kläui at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), was carried out with more than twenty international collaborators.

TU/e researchers launch uniCISS project to decode chiral-induced spin selectivity using AI

Roni Peleg — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0300

Researchers Shuxia Tao (Department of Applied Physics) and Björn Baumeier (Department of Mathematics and Computer Science) at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have been awarded funding by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to tackle one of spintronics' most persistent open questions: Chiral-Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS).

The five-year project, named uniCISS, targets the CISS effect - a phenomenon observed for over two decades in which electrons traveling through chiral (spiral-structured) materials are selectively filtered by their quantum spin state. Despite its well-documented experimental occurrence, no complete theoretical framework has been established to explain the underlying mechanism, making deliberate materials engineering around the effect largely impossible.

Predictive synthesis framework boosts chiral perovskite performance for next-gen spintronics

Roni Peleg — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:04:27 +0300

Researchers from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, International Kazakh-Turkish University, University of California and Argonne National Laboratory have introduced a predictive synthesis framework to boost the spin-relevant performance of chiral 2D metal halide perovskites (MHPs) for next-generation spintronics. Chiral 2D MHPs are promising materials for spin-optoelectronic devices that exploit the electron’s spin degree of freedom, yet their chiroptical response, quantified by the absorption dissymmetry factor (g_abs), has shown large variability and poor reproducibility. This has hindered the rational design of reliable spintronic components such as circularly polarized LEDs, photodetectors, and spin filters.

To tackle this challenge, the team built a data-driven framework that directly links synthesis “knobs” to chiroptical properties. Using Pearson’s correlation, ANOVA, and Gaussian process regression, they systematically evaluated how solvent choice, annealing temperature, film thickness, and other structural and morphological factors influence g_abs. The analysis reveals solvent choice as the primary driver of variability: acetonitrile (ACN)-processed films consistently exhibit higher and more reproducible g_abs values than films fabricated from dimethylformamide (DMF) or ACN:dimethyl sulfoxide (ACN:DMSO) mixtures. For ACN-based films, the model identifies specific annealing temperature and thickness ranges that maximize g_abs, providing a clear processing playbook instead of ad hoc optimization.

SOT-based spintronic platform for unified key generation and intrinsic attack detection

Roni Peleg — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0300

Researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Hubei University have developed a spin-orbit torque (SOT)-based key generation system that unifies cryptographic key generation, concealment, and attack detection within a single spintronic device platform. By combining physically unclonable function (PUF) behavior with true random number generator (TRNG) functionality, the approach introduces a hardware-rooted security primitive in which key access is intrinsically tied to irreversible physical transformations.

At the core of the system are Ta/CoFeB/MgO/Ta spintronic Hall devices, which simultaneously host two complementary entropy sources. Dynamic entropy arises from stochastic magnetization switching under zero-field conditions, enabling true random number generation. In parallel, static entropy originates from device-to-device variations in the critical switching current caused by fabrication process deviations, allowing the extraction of unique and reproducible cryptographic keys. By applying different excitation conditions, the same physical device can switch between these two modes, generating either random numbers or device-specific keys on demand.

Electrically tunable spin polarization in graphene superlattices

Roni Peleg — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0300

Researchers from the National University of Singapore, University of Manchester and National Institute for Materials Science have shown that magnetic proximity can be used to electrically control large spin signals in graphene superlattices, achieving spin polarizations approaching 50% and nonlocal spin resistances above 300 Ω near charge neutrality.

By placing graphene in close proximity to a magnetic material, they induce a magnetic proximity effect that spin-splits graphene’s bands via interfacial exchange coupling, without permanently magnetizing the carbon lattice or degrading its intrinsic transport properties. In their devices, cobalt contacts are used to generate this exchange field, while pure spin currents are injected and detected nonlocally, allowing the team to map how spin transport responds as the Fermi level is tuned across different charge density regimes.

Researchers demonstrate excitonic spin torque in 2D magnetic semiconductor CrSBr

Roni Peleg — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 11:59:39 +0300

Researchers from Cornell University, together with collaborators from Columbia University and the University of Delaware, have demonstrated excitonic spin torque in the 2D magnetic semiconductor CrSBr. The work shows that excitons generated by light can directly drive and control magnetization dynamics, rather than only probing them, and establishes a new optical pathway to manipulate spins in magnetic semiconductors.

In the study, the team used ultrafast pump-probe measurements on the van der Waals antiferromagnet CrSBr. A short laser pulse creates a reservoir of tightly bound excitons in the material, and this exciton population exerts a spin torque on the underlying antiferromagnetic order. The torque has both damping-like and anti-damping-like components and drives the spins along a non-trivial trajectory on the magnetic energy landscape.

CMOS-integrated spintronic p-bit demonstrated on silicon chip

Roni Peleg — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0300

Researchers from Tohoku University and NIST have demonstrated a CMOS-integrated spintronic probabilistic bit (p-bit), marking a significant step toward scalable probabilistic computing hardware. The work experimentally validates a key building block for p-computers by combining superparamagnetic tunnel junctions (sMTJs) with a standard 130 nm CMOS process, enabling stochastic operation directly on a silicon chip.

(a) Photograph of test chips fabricated on a silicon substrate using semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing processes. (b) Schematic cross-sectional structure of the spintronic p-bit. Transistors and lower interconnect layers were fabricated at SkyWater Technology, followed by fabrication of the spintronic devices at the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. (c,d) Cross-sectional and plan-view electron microscope images of the spintronic device designed to exhibit stochastic fluctuations. Image from: Tohoku University website

Probabilistic computing targets problems that require efficient exploration of vast solution spaces, such as combinatorial optimization and machine learning. Unlike conventional binary systems, which process deterministic 0 or 1 states, p-bits fluctuate continuously between these states. This stochastic behavior allows p-computers to sample many configurations in parallel, making them well suited for complex optimization tasks.

Quantum Design acquires Qnami, strengthening quantum sensing tools for spintronics research

Roni Peleg — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:36:29 +0300

Quantum Design International has acquired Qnami, a Swiss company specializing in diamond-based quantum sensing and scanning probe microscopy technologies. The deal is aimed at expanding Quantum Design’s portfolio for quantum materials, nanomagnetism, spintronics, semiconductors, and advanced device characterization.

Qnami develops nitrogen-vacancy (NV) diamond-based scanning probe systems and components that enable nanoscale magnetic imaging and precision field sensing, tools that are increasingly used in spintronics and quantum materials research. According to the companies, the combined organization will focus on advancing Qnami’s existing SPM platforms and quantum sensing components while exploring new opportunities in academic labs, national facilities, and industrial R&D.

ORNL team detecs altermagnetism in hematite

Roni Peleg — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0300

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) have discovered hematite, essentially rust, can help design energy-efficient spintronics.

The team’s findings confirmed a key signature of altermagnetism (a new type of magnetism discovered in 2022) in hematite. Altermagnets are magnetic materials in which electron spins align in opposite directions, allowing pure spin currents to flow without a net electric charge - ideal conditions for spintronics. The team measured spin waves, which move through a material's magnetic order similar to how sound waves move through air. They discovered that these waves show a clear separation in energy, a unique signature that confirms the material's altermagnetic nature.

University of Minnesota launches spintronics innovation hub for next-generation quantum devices

Roni Peleg — Thu, 28 May 2026 06:00:00 +0300

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities, in collaboration with Polar Semiconductor and Honeywell Aerospace, is establishing a first-of-its-kind academic-industry Spin Technology Center to advance the state’s growing microelectronics and semiconductor industry. The $5.7 million project has been awarded $2.83 million from the Minnesota Forward Fund administered by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, with an additional $2.8 million in matching funding from industry partners Polar Semiconductor and Honeywell Aerospace.

The new center will develop quantum spintronic devices focusing on high-tech magnetic sensors and advanced memory storage. These devices are being adapted for cutting-edge applications, including biomedical devices, industrial automation, automotive applications and specialized technologies designed for extreme environments like space.

Picosecond ultralow-power switching in an antiferromagnetic Mn₃Sn device

Roni Peleg — Tue, 26 May 2026 06:00:00 +0300

Researchers from the University of Tokyo, RIKEN and Tokyo Metropolitan University have demonstrated an ultrafast, energy-efficient nonvolatile switching device based on antiferromagnetic Mn₃Sn, achieving reliable operation in the picosecond regime with dramatically reduced power consumption.

The device is built on Mn₃Sn/tantalum heterostructures and utilizes spin–orbit torque (SOT) to switch the magnetic state using electrical pulses as short as 40 picoseconds. This represents a roughly 1,000× speed improvement over conventional nanosecond-scale switching, which has long been a practical limit in current CPU and GPU technologies due to rapidly increasing energy demands at higher speeds.

Spin-dependent isotopic fractionation of L-methionine on magnetized surfaces

Roni Peleg — Mon, 25 May 2026 15:07:24 +0300

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Weizmann Institute of Science recently demonstrated that the direction of a magnetic field can influence the isotopic fractionation of a chiral biomolecule, establishing a clear experimental link between electron spin, molecular chirality, and isotope-dependent behavior on magnetized surfaces.

The study focuses on L-methionine, a chiral amino acid, and examines how molecules containing different carbon isotopes - ¹²C and ¹³C - interact with magnetized surfaces. While isotopic fractionation is widely used to trace biochemical pathways, the mechanisms governing isotope selectivity in chiral systems have remained poorly understood.

Terahertz-driven chiral phonons reveal angular momentum conservation in solids

Roni Peleg — Sun, 24 May 2026 16:12:43 +0300

A team of researchers from Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, and additional collaborators in Berlin, Dresden, Jülich, and Eindhoven have experimentally demonstrated and coherently controlled the transfer of angular momentum between lattice vibrations, providing the first direct observation of how this conserved quantity propagates through a crystal lattice.

In solids, the exchange of energy and linear momentum between phonons via anharmonic coupling is well established. However, tracking angular momentum transfer between lattice modes has remained elusive, despite its central role in magnetization dynamics and spin relaxation phenomena such as the Einstein–de Haas effect. The present work closes this gap by directly resolving how quantized crystal angular momentum is redistributed between coupled vibrational modes.

Graphene enables spin-preserving ballistic electron transport for future spintronics

Roni Peleg — Mon, 11 May 2026 06:00:00 +0300

University of Manchester researchers have shown that electrons in ultra-clean graphene can be steered with high precision while keeping their spin information intact, a key requirement for future low power electronics and quantum devices.

The team demonstrates how electrons can travel ballistically, i.e. without experiencing any scattering or resistance, over micrometer distances in graphene at low temperature and maintain spin coherence all the way up to room temperature. By using a technique known as transverse magnetic focusing (TMF), they were able to bend electron trajectories like light rays traversing a lens and show that these curved paths carry a clear spin signature.

Near-zero-field molecular magnet emerges as a room-temperature spintronics platform

Roni Peleg — Fri, 08 May 2026 06:00:00 +0300

An international research team led by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) has developed a new magnetic material that combines a robust internal magnetic structure with an almost vanishing external magnetic field, and it maintains these properties well above room temperature.

The material is the molecular framework Cr(pyrazine)₃, a three-dimensional cubic ReO₃‑type structure in which Cr³⁺ ions are bridged exclusively by pyrazine radical anions. In this architecture, the chromium centers and the pyrazine radicals form two magnetic sublattices whose moments are strongly antiferromagnetically coupled, giving rise to a nearly perfectly compensated ferrimagnetic ground state with an exceptionally small net magnetic moment.

Robust ML framework speeds up Fermi surface screening for spintronic Heusler alloys

Roni Peleg — Tue, 05 May 2026 06:00:00 +0300

Researchers from the Tokyo University of Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, University of Tsukuba and National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) have developed an interpretable machine-learning framework that automatically detects anomalies in Fermi surface maps of the spintronic Heusler alloy Co₂MnGaₓGe₁₋ₓ (CMGG). The approach uses principal component analysis (PCA) on simulated Fermi-surface images to pinpoint compositions where the electronic structure changes sharply, and links these anomalies directly to nodal-line formation and variations in spin polarization.

In this work, the team focuses on CMGG, a Heusler alloy with half-metallicity, nodal-line features and high spin polarization, known for its anomalous Nernst effect arising from nodal lines on the Fermi surface. Using density functional theory (DFT), they first generate a composition-dependent band-structure dataset and extract kₓ–kᵧ Fermi-surface cuts through the Γ point. These images are blurred to roughly approximate ARPES data, then converted into one-dimensional vectors and analyzed via PCA to obtain a low-dimensional representation where each point corresponds to a specific Ga content x.