Researchers at Stockholm University and their global partners have made a significant advance in quantum technology by demonstrating that laser light can induce magnetism in non-magnetic materials at room temperature. This critical development utilizes circularly polarized light to manipulate atoms and electrons in strontium titanate, resulting in magnetic properties. This method, detailed in a recent publication in Nature, could lead to faster, more energy-efficient computers and improved data storage systems.
Quantum technology, expected to transform communications and energy sectors within decades, often operates under conditions of extreme cold. However, the new technique introduces practical applications at room temperature, expanding the potential of quantum mechanics beyond laboratory settings. This breakthrough hinges on a novel light source with a unique polarization resembling a corkscrew, enabling the manipulation of titanium and strontium oxide to generate a magnetic field.
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. We have been able to do so by developing a new light source in the far-infrared with a polarization which has a corkscrew shape. This is the first time we have been able to induce and clearly see how the material becomes magnetic at room temperature in an experiment. Furthermore, our approach allows to make magnetic materials out of many insulators, when magnets are typically made of metals. In the long run, this opens for completely new applications in society, says the research leader Stefano Bonetti at Stockholm University and at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
The results have been confirmed in multiple laboratories, suggesting that this technique could also revolutionize magnetic data writing and storage. Alexander Balatsky, professor of physics at NORDITA, highlights the future impact: This opens up 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.
Research Report:Terahertz electric-field-driven dynamical multiferroicity in SrTiO3
