The team used a “corkscrew” shaped polarized laser light source.
A global team of researchers has revealed a quantum
breakthrough that could transform current computing and data infrastructure.
The team used light to induce quantum behavior at room
temperature, turning a nonmagnetic material magnetic.
On the quantum level, particles defy classic laws of physics
and can present magnetic or superconducting behavior. Researchers have been
studying quantum particles to be able to replicate their behavior in other
materials.
Magnetism is inherently quantum mechanical. As we’ve come to
understand that, so has our ability increasingly grown to crack open this
fundamental world. Quantum technology stands to impact some of the most
relevant industries in our world at almost the speed of light. And light, it
turns out, held the key to opening that door.
Researchers magnetize a nonmagnetic material
The research team successfully magnetized strontium
titanate, a gemstone, using laser light at a particular intensity and
frequency. By doing so, the team has become the first in the world to
demonstrate laser light’s ability to induce magnetism in a non-magnetic
material at room temperature experimentally.
Quantum experiments of this nature have worked only in
extremely cold conditions until now.
While a physicist claimed to have discovered a
superconductor capable of working at room temperature in March 2023, his
findings were deemed to be manipulated earlier this month, with the journal
Nature retracting two research papers of his.
“The innovation in this method lies in the concept of
letting light move atoms and electrons in this material in circular motion, so
to generate currents that make it as magnetic as a refrigerator magnet,”
explained research leader Stefano Bonetti at Stockholm University and the Ca’
Foscari University of Venice.
The team was able to do so by developing a new circularly
polarized light that “stirs up” titanium atoms and generates currents. In this
case, the light had a “corkscrew” shape which seemed to do the trick.
Just the beginning
Not only did the team magnetize a nonmagnetic material, but
they also demonstrated that their approach works. Their approach can now be
applied to other insulators, reducing the need to use metals for their magnetic
properties.
“In the long run, this opens for completely new applications
in society,” Bonetti concludes.
“This opens sup for ultra-fast magnetic switches that can be
used for faster information transfer and considerably better data storage, and
for computers that are significantly faster and more energy-efficient,” added
Alexander Balatsky, a professor of physics at the Nordic Institute of
Theoretical Physics (NORDITA).
Light has just opened a brand new chapter in technology by
being able to manipulate materials at the quantum level and room temperature.
The research team includes scientists from Stockholm
University and NORDITA in Sweden, the University of Connecticut and the SLAC
National Accelerator Laboratory in the USA, the National Institute for
Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan, the Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste, the
‘Sapienza’ University of Rome and the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in
Italy.
Reference: Research Paper