Physicists Switch Magnetic State Using Spin Current

When Carnegie Mellon University doctoral candidates I-Hsuan Kao and Ryan Muzzio started working together a switch flicked on. Then off. Working in the Department of Physics ' Lab for Investigating Quantum Materials, Interfaces and Devices (LIQUID) Group , Kao, Muzzio and other research partners were able to show proof of concept that running an electrical current through a novel two-dimensional material could control the magnetic state of a neighboring magnetic material without the need of applying an external magnetic field. The groundbreaking work has potential applications for data storage in consumer products such as digital cameras, smartphones and laptops. "What we're doing here is utilizing ultrathin materials - often the thickness of few atoms - and stacking them on top of each other to create high-quality devices," said Kao (right) , who was first author on the paper. Simranjeet Singh , an assistant professor of physics and Jyoti Katoch , an assistant professor of physics, oversee the LIQUID Group, which investigates the intrinsic physical properties of two-dimensional quantum materials such as tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) and their electronic and spin-related properties. "Spins and magnetism are everywhere around us," Singh said.