(Press-News.org) Contact information: Angela Wenzik
a.wenzik@fz-juelich.de
49-246-161-6048
Forschungszentrum Juelich
Potential future data storage at domain boundaries
Scientists discover polar domain walls in antiferroelectric materials
This news release is available in German.
Storing more and more in an ever-smaller space – what sounds impossible is in fact just part of the daily routine in information technology, where for decades, increasing amounts of data have been successfully stored on media with ever higher densities. An international team, including researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich, has now discovered a physical phenomenon that could prove suitable for use in further data aggregation. They found that domain walls, which separate areas in certain crystalline materials, display a polarization, potentially allowing information to be stored in the tiniest of spaces, thus saving energy. The results of this study have been published in the latest edition of the journal Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4031).
Scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, and Xi'an Jiaotong University in China, have investigated so-called antiferroelectric crystals with the help of the most advanced electron microscopes and computer simulations. These materials possess no electrical polarization and for this reason, seemed up until recently to be of no interest for such applications. The researchers have now discovered that certain areas within these materials do indeed exhibit ferroelectric polar properties.
Ferroelectricity is generated when displacements of positive and negative ions result in the formation of electrical dipoles. The magnitude and orientation of these dipoles, also known as polarization, can be altered using an external electric field and is able to maintain itself without any additional current until it is overwritten. Ferroelectric materials are for this reason already used, for example, to store data on train tickets.
The ferroelectric areas that the researchers have discovered are only around two nanometers thick and could therefore one day be used to store data in a tenth of the space that magnetic materials use. They form the boundaries between identically-structured areas of the otherwise antiferroelectric materials.
"We can imagine these materials as being like three-dimensional patchwork objects made from regularly-arranged building blocks, which are the domains", explains Dr. Xiankui Wei, visiting scientist at the Peter Grünberg Institute and post-doctoral researcher at EPFL. "Within each individual building block, the polarization is absent due to cancellation of oppositely arranged electric dipoles in the basic structure unit. However, the boundaries or 'walls' between domains are polar."
Investigations using atomic resolution electron microscopy, with the help of a technique developed at Forschungszentrum Jülich showed that each wall is uniformly polarized. To change the polarization and write the data, the only requirement is a voltage pulse, as the polarization is then stored until overwritten. As no current is necessary, this uses less energy than magnetic data storage does.
"What is especially exciting in terms of applications is the special arrangement of the walls", reports Prof. Nava Setter of EPFL; under the microscope it is possible to see at relatively low magnification, that the domains are separated from each other by long, parallel walls. The position of the strain-free walls is variable – upon application of an inhomogeneous electric field, they move either closer together or further apart. The researchers intend to investigate these phenomena in more detail, as the ability to accurately control the mobility and density of the walls are important requirements in terms of technical applications.
INFORMATION:
Original publication:
Ferroelectric translational antiphase boundaries in nonpolar materials;
Xian-Kui Wei, Alexander K. Tagantsev, Alexander Kvasov, Krystian Roleder,
Chun-Lin Jia, Nava Setter;
Nature Communications 5 (2014), Article number: 3031, published online: 8 January 2014; DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4031
Further information:
Forschungszentrum Jülich - Peter Grünberg Institute – Microstructure Research (PGI-5): http://www.fz-juelich.de/pgi/pgi-5/EN/Home/home_node.html
École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne EPFL – Ceramics Laboratory: http://lc.epfl.ch/
Contact:
Dr. Xiankui Wei, Peter Grünberg Institute - Microstructure Research (PGI-5)
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
Tel. +49 2461 61-9338, E-Mail: x.wei@fz-juelich.de or xiankui.wei@epfl.ch
Press contact:
Angela Wenzik, Science Journalist, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
Tel. +49 2461 61-6048, E-Mail: a.wenzik@fz-juelich.de
Potential future data storage at domain boundaries
Scientists discover polar domain walls in antiferroelectric materials
2014-01-14
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Research shows early promise of new drug for cancers caused by viruses
2014-01-14
Research shows early promise of new drug for cancers caused by viruses
New Orleans, LA – Christopher Parsons, MD, Director of the HIV Malignancies Program at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, is the senior author of a paper that is the ...
Illinois study identifies 3 risk factors most highly correlated with child obesity
2014-01-14
Illinois study identifies 3 risk factors most highly correlated with child obesity
URBANA, Ill. – A University of Illinois study has identified the three most significant risk factors for child ...
Scientists show how insulin-producing cells may fail in diabetes, how they might someday be restored
2014-01-14
Scientists show how insulin-producing cells may fail in diabetes, how they might someday be restored
These cells may sometimes revert to a non-functional state, but other pancreatic cells may someday step in to replace them
Two new studies led ...
NASA sees rainfall from System 94S over Australia's Arnhem region
2014-01-14
NASA sees rainfall from System 94S over Australia's Arnhem region
The low pressure area designated as System 94S has been trying to organize off the northern coast of Australia's Northern Territory for a couple of days. NASA's TRMM satellite passed overhead on January ...
High levels of molecular chlorine found in arctic atmosphere
2014-01-14
High levels of molecular chlorine found in arctic atmosphere
Scientists studying the atmosphere above Barrow, Alaska, have discovered unprecedented levels of molecular chlorine in the air, a new study reports.
Molecular chlorine, from sea salt ...
Embargoed news: Panel at odds over new BP guidelines
2014-01-14
Embargoed news: Panel at odds over new BP guidelines
Annals of Internal Medicine Jan. 14, 2014 tip sheet
1. Panel at odds over newly released blood pressure guidelines
Panel members explain why they voted against raising systolic blood pressure targets
Some ...
Discovery of new Tiktaalik roseae fossils reveals key link in evolution of hind limbs
2014-01-14
Discovery of new Tiktaalik roseae fossils reveals key link in evolution of hind limbs
The discovery of well-preserved pelves and a partial pelvic fin from Tiktaalik roseae, a 375 million-year-old transitional species between fish and the first ...
Study questions anti-cancer mechanisms of drug tested in clinical trials
2014-01-14
Study questions anti-cancer mechanisms of drug tested in clinical trials
CINCINNATI – The diabetes drug metformin is also being tested in numerous clinical trials for treating different cancers, and several studies point to its apparent ...
NHS cancer risk threshold 'too high' for patients, research indicates
2014-01-14
NHS cancer risk threshold 'too high' for patients, research indicates
Patients have expressed an appetite for potential cancer symptoms to be checked out much sooner than current NHS thresholds guidelines suggest, new research has revealed.
A study ...
Chemical signaling simulates exercise in cartilage cells
2014-01-14
Chemical signaling simulates exercise in cartilage cells
DURHAM, N.C. -- Cartilage is notoriously difficult to repair or grow, but researchers at Duke Medicine have taken a step toward understanding how to regenerate the connective tissue. By ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’
New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening
Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas
Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition
CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves
Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam
Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand
Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch
New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed
New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations
Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency
How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads
Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids
Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation
Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria
Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options
Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity
Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers
Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time
‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’
Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible
Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound
American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care
Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential
Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research
Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration
Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce
Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care
Resident physician intentions regarding unionization
Healthy nutrition and physical lifestyle choices lower cancer mortality risk for survivors, new ACS study finds
[Press-News.org] Potential future data storage at domain boundariesScientists discover polar domain walls in antiferroelectric materials