Controlling Magnetic Materials




Rare earth magnetic materials have special properties. These properties occur because of electrons in the 4f shell. Controlling these magnetic properties was considered beyond the bounds of possibility until very recently. 

A team from HZB, Berlin University and other researchers around the world have shown laser pulses influence these 4f Electrons and magnetic properties. 

Experiments were performed at laboratories named EuXFEL and FLASH. They claim to have discovered a new way to store data using rare earth elements. 

Rare earth magnets are The strongest magnets known. Their unique 4f Electrons are responsible for these magnetic properties. They also create a large magnetic moment that is consistent, even when their chemical surroundings change. This means that rare earth magnets can be used in a wide variety of compounds and alloys Without altering their very special magnetic properties. 

These Teams at HZB, Berlin University, DESY and the European x-ray laser XFEL have proved a new theory. 

Historically, it was surmised that the magnetic properties of the 4f electrons could not be modified-even when the material was excited by a laserbeam.

However, the positioning of the 4f Electrons can be momentarily changed by laser Excitation. This changes the materials magnetism!! 

New opportunities for fast and energy efficient control of rare earth magnetic Materials is suddenly a possibility. The work was recently published in the journal Science Advances.

Researchers used terbium, Which is a rare earth element. It is atomic number 65 with eight electrons in 4f orbitals. Then they excite the material with a laser pulse and analyze the results with x-ray spectroscopy. 

Soft x-Ray radiation Was used in the study to determine electronic structure of a material. 

The experiment showed that after the laser pulse 4f Electrons momentarily changed to orbital with a contrasting spatial distribution. This is caused by a scattering process with 5d electrons. 

It has never been considered before. The change of the 4f Electrons by the laser caused a brief redistribution in their magnetic properties. 

This controlled redistribution allows for rare earth materials to be used in new applications, including energy saving and super fast information storage devices.

Until recently, rare earth materials were not used in magnetic storage.

This research is made possible by x-rays. Scientists generate ultra short x-ray pulses in a few femtoseconds. (Light travels about the width of hair in 300 femtoseconds.)

* Laboratories in Berlin are one of the leading centers for understanding these ultrafast magnetic effects. I feel like that might be an understatement. 

An interesting way to control the magnetic properties of rare elements!! 

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