A Laser-induced Magnetization Of Non-magnetic Materials At Room Temperature Could Lead To The Development Of Faster And More Energy-efficient Information Transmission And Storage Technologies

Researchers from Stockholm University in Sweden, the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics and the University of Cavuscari in Venice, Italy, have succeeded in demonstrating for the first time how lasers can induce quantum behavior at room temperature and make non-magnetic materials magnetic. The breakthrough is expected to pave the way for faster and more energy-efficient computers, information transmission and data storage. The study is published in the latest issue of the journal Nature.
The team this time produced induced magnetism by placing a quantum material, strontium titanate, in a short, intense laser beam with a particular wavelength and polarization. This method allows light to move atoms and electrons in the material in a circular motion, which creates an electric current and makes it magnetic like a refrigerator magnet.
The researchers did this by developing a new far-infrared light source. The light source has a polarization in the shape of a "corkscrew". This is the first time they have been able to experimentally induce and clearly see how materials become magnetic at room temperature.
While magnets are usually made of metal, the new method allows magnetic materials to be made from many insulators. The breakthrough is expected to have broad applications in a variety of information technologies and will open the door to the development of ultrafast magnetic switches, information transfer and data storage, and faster, more energy-efficient computers.
The findings have been replicated in several other laboratories. A paper in the same issue of Nature shows that the method can be used to write and store magnetic information, which could open a new chapter in the design of new materials from light.

Researchers in the lab at Stockholm University. Image credit: Magnus Bergström / Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation