Scientists have developed a new synthetic material for optical data storage, an advance that brings the much cheaper method for storing data using light a step closer. Optical data storage does not require expensive magnetic materials as synthetic alternatives work just as well.
When you store a file on your laptop or PC, the computer creates a code consisting of zeroes and ones. These are actually tiny magnetic poles (spins) that can point in one of two directions: the ‘zero’ state or the ‘one’ state.
Switching these spins using a magnetic field is a relatively a slow, energy-intensive process. An alternative is to switch them using light, which was first achieved six years ago.
Optical switching is only possible in special magnets, called ferrimagnets. However, these magnets are made up of expensive rare-earth metals, which are also difficult to produce in a nano-scale.
Now for the first time it is also possible to switch synthetic ferrimagnets optically.
0 comments:
Post a Comment