Researchers are studying a rare class of materials which could lead to faster, more reliable memory storage in computers.
Researchers from Victoria University of Wellington are studying the properties of rare earth nitrides (RENs), thin films grown under ultra-high vacuum which are both magnetic and semiconducting.
Dr Ben Ruck from the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences explained that a computer has two types of memory, a hard disk drive coated with magnetic material, and random-access memory (RAM) that stores data electrically.
The issue with RAM is that it does not retain information when the host computer turns off.
"What we're working on is a magnetic type of RAM that doesn't disappear. Because data is retained when the power is switched off, a device can perform faster, be more versatile and use less energy. This is ideal, as an example, for cloud data storage spanning across multiple servers," said Ruck.
In collaboration with a team of researchers in France, based at the Centre for Research on Hetero-Epitaxy and Applications, which has facilities to grow pure versions of RENs, Ruck and his colleagues are also in the process of testing a new way to control how RENs use electricity.
"No one has made a magnetic semi-conductor where you can truly control the electrical conductivity," Ruck said.
"Our results provide a new way to control conduction precisely, meaning you can swap a device from being magnetic to non-magnetic, surpassing existing electronics regarding speed and power consumption," Ruck added.
