using|电-20210302-荷兰开发出可提升硬盘数据记录速度的新技术

A.拟印稿
近日 , 荷兰代尔夫特理工大学研究人员利用光诱导晶格振动技术极大提升了计算机硬盘的数据记录速度 。 该技术通过光诱导铁酸镝(DyFeO3)晶格振动实现数据存储 。 强烈的激光脉冲可以在几皮秒内将反铁磁材料变成铁磁材料 , 这一时间尺度与磁化转换的时间尺度相匹配 , 远远超过了现有计算机硬盘的记录速度 。 强激光脉冲通过交换相互作用使铁酸镝晶格产生超快、持久变化 , 这些变化使材料经历从反铁磁体转变为铁磁体的相变过程 。 该研究是计算机硬盘存储领域取得的重大突破 , 有望加速下一代硬盘技术的开发应用 。
B.中文稿
荷兰开发出可提升硬盘数据记录速度的新技术
[据物理学组织网站2021年2月26日报道]
近日 , 荷兰代尔夫特理工大学研究人员利用光诱导晶格振动技术极大提升了计算机硬盘的数据记录速度 。 该技术通过光诱导铁酸镝(DyFeO3)晶格振动实现数据存储 。 强烈的激光脉冲可以在几皮秒内将反铁磁材料变成铁磁材料 , 这一时间尺度与磁化转换的时间尺度相匹配 , 远远超过了现有计算机硬盘的记录速度 。 强激光脉冲通过交换相互作用使铁酸镝晶格产生超快、持久变化 , 这些变化使材料经历从反铁磁体转变为铁磁体的相变过程 。 该研究是计算机硬盘存储领域取得的重大突破 , 有望加速下一代硬盘技术的开发应用 。
Light-induced lattice vibrations could speed up
data recording
Intense laser pulses can turn an
antiferromagnetic material into a ferromagnetic one within just a few
picoseconds (10-12 s) – a time scale that matches the fundamental limit for
magnetization switching and vastly exceeds the recording speeds of today’s computer
hard drives. The technique, which works by optically “shaking” the crystal
lattice of dysprosium orthoferrite (DyFeO3), could form the basis of a fast and
energy-efficient new way of processing data.
Modern hard disk drives encode data by
using magnetic field pulses to flip the spins of electrons (representing binary
zeros and ones) in ferromagnetic materials within the disk. Because these
magnetic pulses require a substantial electrical current, the data-writing
process dissipates significant amounts of energy. It is also relatively slow,
with a complete spin flip taking tens of nanoseconds (1 ns = 10-9 s).
Antiferromagnets like DyFeO3 are
considered promising candidates for future high-density memory applications
because their spins flip much faster, with characteristic frequencies in the
terahertz range. These rapid spin flips are possible because the electron spins
in DyFeO3 are aligned antiparallel to each other – meaning that the material
(unlike ferromagnets, which have parallel electron spins) lacks a net
magnetization. The spins in antiferromagnets are also robust to external
magnetic perturbations, making them a stable platform for data storage.
Controlling the exchange interaction
Researchers led by Andrea Caviglia of
the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have now put these
properties to work by showing that intense (> 10?MV?cm–1) mid-infrared laser
pulses just 250?femtoseconds (1 fs =10-15 s) long can switch the spins in
DyFeO3 in less than 5 picoseconds. The mechanism for this switch lies in the
interaction between an electron’s spin (roughly, its rotation on its own axis)
and its orbital momentum, which stems from the electron’s movement around the
atomic nucleus and is related to the shape of the material’s electronic orbital.
In DyFeO3, the spin of the
transition-metal (Fe) ion and the orbital momentum of the rare-earth (Dy) ion
are strongly coupled via a mechanism known as an exchange interaction. This
quantum interaction occurs between pairs of identical fermions (such as
electrons), and it tends to prevent the spin magnetic moments of neighbouring
fermions from pointing in the same direction.
Caviglia and colleagues, however, found
that the intense laser pulses essentially “shook up” the lattice of DyFeO3,
producing ultrafast and long-lasting changes in the exchange interaction. These
changes made it possible for the material to undergo a phase transition,
switching from an antiferromagnet to a ferromagnet.
Ultrafast lattice control
The researchers, who report their work
in Nature Materials, say that it was previously thought that phonons (that is,
vibrations) could only change a material’s magnetism on a timescale of
nanoseconds. “We have reduced the magnetic switching time by a 1000, which is a
major milestone in itself,” says team member Rostislav Mikhaylovskiy of
Lancaster University in the UK.
The researchers hope that their findings
will encourage further research into the exact mechanisms governing ultrafast
lattice control of magnetic states. They now plan to optically stimulate other
phonon modes in DyFeO3. “These modes often feature a symmetry that
is different to the one we have already addressed and thus might have a
fundamentally distinctive impact on the magnetic state of the antiferromagnet,”
study lead author Dmytro Afanasiev tells Physics World. “Who knows what kind of
【using|电-20210302-荷兰开发出可提升硬盘数据记录速度的新技术】novel scenarios for light-driven magnetic recording they may provide.”

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