Magnetic Solitons Created

Category: Science & Technology
Posted: March 18, 2013 07:16AM
Author: Guest_Jim_*

In the past decade the computer has not made any fundamentally significant changes, but in the next ten years or so, that may change. Researchers are working to create a new kind of computer that operates on the spin of electrons instead of on their charge, like modern computers. Now those at North Carolina State University have successfully created a magnetic soliton, which could prove invaluable for spintronic computers.

Solitons are a special kind of wave which is self-reinforcing and thus able to preserve its size and momentum over distances. They have been known about for years, but the idea of a nano-sized magnetic droplet was only suggested 35 years ago, and now one has been created. To achieve this, the researchers pushed a DC current through a magnet, causing the electrons within it to tilt their magnetic axes. The electrons then began to precess because of this leaning, which created the magnetic soliton in the form of a spinning droplet.

Due to their self-reinforcing nature, the researchers see magnetic solitons potentially being used within spintronic computers to transmit information or even to create more advanced magnetic hard drives.