Scientists have discovered a third form of magnetism that will help solve the riddle of superconductors

Scientists are discovering a new form of magnetism that could be the "missing link" in the search for superconductivity. The researchers have obtained the first convincing evidence of an elusive third class called altermagnetism.

These groundbreaking findings could revolutionize the design of new high-speed magnetic memory devices. And they may also become a piece of the missing puzzle in the development of better superconducting materials, LiveScience writes.

Known forms of magnetism

"Previously, we had two well-known types of magnetism," said study author Oliver Amin, a doctoral student at the University of Nottingham in the UK.

"These are ferromagnetism, where magnetic arrows point in the same direction. And also antiferromagnetism, where neighboring magnetic moments point in opposite directions – you can imagine it as a chessboard of alternating white and black tiles," the scientist added.

According to the scientists, the revolutions in the electric current must point in one of two directions and can be aligned with or against these magnetic moments to store or transfer information, forming the basis of magnetic memory devices.

A new form of magnetism

Scientists note that altemagnetic materials, first created in 2022, have a structure that is somewhere in the middle of known forms.

Each individual magnetic moment points in the opposite direction than its neighbor, as in an antiferromagnetic material. But each unit is slightly twisted relative to that neighboring magnetic atom, resulting in some ferromagnetic properties, experts explain.

Therefore, altermagnets combine the best properties of both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic materials.

"The advantage of ferromagnets is that we have an easy way to read and write memory using these upper or lower domains. But because these materials have pure magnetism, this information can also be easily lost by wiping with a magnet," said Alfred Dal Dean, co-author of the study from the University of Nottingham.

The researchers emphasize that antiferromagnetic materials are much more difficult to manipulate for information storage. Since they have zero magnetism, the information in these materials is much safer and faster to transfer.

"The altermagnets have the speed and stability of antiferromagnets, but they also have this important property of ferromagnets called reverse time symmetry breaking," Dean added.

The study's authors argue that the ability to image and control this new form of magnetism could revolutionize the design of next-generation memory devices with increased operating speeds and enhanced durability and ease of use.

"Alternating magnetism will also help in the development of superconductivity. For a long time, there has been a hole in the symmetry between these two fields, and this class of magnetic material, which has remained elusive, has turned out to be this missing link in the puzzle," Dal Dean summarized.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!