Purely antiferromagnetic magnetoelectric Random Access Memory - Nature Communication

Antiferromagnetic Ram

In a experiment led by the group of Dr. Denys Makarov in Dresden, researchers from Germany and Switzerland suggested a promising new approach to magnetoelectric RAM, in which the storage layer is made of antiferromagnets.

Antiferromagnets have internal magnetic order, but the direction of their microscopic moments alternates between neighboring atomic sites. The resulting zero net magnetic moment makes magnetism in antiferromagnets externally invisible. This implies that information stored in antiferromagnetic moments cannot be measured by common magnetic probes.

Using the Quantilever MX, images of the magnetic domains at the surface of the antiferromagnetic layer could be recorded. The high-resolution microscopy data proved essential to back up key assumptions on the magnetic state of the surface.

Publication
T. Kosub et al,, Purely antiferromagnetic magnetoelectric Random Access Memory, Nature Communication 8, 13985 (2017).  (Open Access)

News article
New road towards a universal memory

See more applications

Temperature evolution of the antiferromagnetic domain pattern in strained chromium oxide thin films.

Unconventional flexomagnetism in chromium oxide thin films

Applying inhomogeneous strain to chromium oxide thin films induces a strong vertical gradient of the Neel temperature inferred through scanning NV magnetometry measurements.

Antiferromagnetic domain walls in Chromium Oxide imaged with Scanning NV Magnetometry

Nanoscale mechanics of domain walls

Magnetic Defects / ProteusQ / Scientific Publication

Scanning NV Magnetometry unveiled for the first time the nanoscale mechanics of antiferromagnetic domain walls opening new avenues for antiferromagnetic spintronics.