Memory Breakthrough: Helical Magnets Lead to Next-Gen Storage

helical magnets storage breakthrough

Researchers have unveiled an innovative magnet-based memory device employing helical magnets, heralding a new era of high-density, non-volatile storage free from magnetic field interference.

This significant advancement presents a sustainable solution to the existing challenges in data storage, with the potential for large-scale integration and exceptional durability.

A team of distinguished scientists has introduced a groundbreaking concept for magnet-based memory devices, poised to transform information storage due to their potential for extensive integration, non-volatility, and remarkable durability.

The details of their research were disclosed in the journal Nature Communications.

Spintronic devices, such as magnetic random access memory (MRAM), capitalize on the magnetization direction of ferromagnetic materials to store data.

Thanks to their non-volatility and low energy consumption, spintronic devices are expected to become integral components of future data storage technologies.

Challenges and Novel Solutions

Despite their promise, ferromagnet-based spintronic devices face a significant challenge. Ferromagnets inherently generate magnetic fields that can influence nearby ferromagnets.

In integrated magnetic systems, this interaction results in crosstalk between magnetic bits, limiting the memory density.

The research team, including Hidetoshi Masuda, Takeshi Seki, Yoshinori Onose from Tohoku University’s Institute for Materials Research, and Jun-ichiro Ohe from Toho University, demonstrated that helical magnets, a special class of magnetic materials, could be employed in magnetic memory devices to overcome this magnetic field issue.

Helical Magnets and Chirality Memory

In helical magnets, atomic magnetic moments are aligned in a spiral pattern. The chirality, or handedness, of this spiral—whether right-handed or left-handed—can be used to encode information.

The magnetic fields produced by each atomic magnetic moment cancel each other out, ensuring that helical magnets do not produce any large-scale magnetic fields.

“Memory devices based on the chirality of helimagnets, free from bit-to-bit crosstalk, could chart a new course for enhancing memory density,” remarks Masuda.

The researchers successfully demonstrated that chirality memory could be written and read at room temperature.

They fabricated epitaxial thin films of a room-temperature helimagnet, MnAu2, and showed that the chirality (the right- or left-handedness of the spiral) could be switched by electric current pulses under magnetic fields.

Additionally, they created a bilayer device composed of MnAu2 and platinum (Pt), demonstrating that chirality memory could be read as a resistance change, even without magnetic fields.

Future Prospects

“We have revealed the latent potential of chirality memory in helical magnets for next-generation memory devices; it may enable high-density, non-volatile, and highly stable memory bits,” adds Masuda.

“This discovery could pave the way for future storage devices with ultra-high information density and robust reliability.”

Reference

“Room temperature chirality switching and detection in a helimagnetic MnAu2 thin film” by Hidetoshi Masuda, Takeshi Seki, Jun-ichiro Ohe, Yoichi Nii, Hiroto Masuda, Koki Takanashi, and Yoshinori Onose, March 7, 2024, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46326-4.