On July 5, 2026, researchers from Tohoku University announced a breakthrough in controlling magnetic chirality, which could significantly increase data storage capacity in memory devices. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, detail how a joint research team led by Hidetoshi Masuda and Yoshinori Onose developed a method to manipulate chirality in metallic helimagnet materials.
Understanding Magnetic Chirality
Magnetic chirality refers to the twisted spiral arrangement of atomic magnetic moments within a material, which can be either left-handed or right-handed. This property allows the representation of binary data as “0” and “1” in storage devices. Traditional magnetic storage devices, like hard disk drives, face limitations as they shrink, due to interference from stray magnetic fields.
The research team utilized a unique experimental setup that applied both a magnetic field and an electric current simultaneously to control the chirality. This approach demonstrated that the chirality could be uniformized across a significant portion of the sample, paving the way for higher data density in memory applications.
Breakthrough Experimental Setup
The innovative setup allowed for precise control over the chirality of the YMn6Sn6 helimagnet at room temperature. By conducting advanced spin-polarized neutron scattering experiments at J-PARC, the team observed that their method achieved a uniform left-handed chirality across up to 99% of the sample volume.
