Domestic researchers have developed a technology that addresses the shortcomings of next-generation semiconductor technologies, spintronics, and orbitronics.
Professors Kim Se-kwon of KAIST’s Department of Physics and Lee Hyun-woo of POSTECH’s Department of Physics led a joint research team that has successfully observed new movements of “magnons” that can transmit information without electron-generated heat. The breakthrough was announced on June 17.
Traditional information processing technologies lose a significant amount of energy because they use electrons, which generate heat due to resistance while moving through conductors. Both spintronics, which utilize the charge and magnetic spin of electrons, and orbitronics, which use the position of the electron’s orbit, face this heating issue.
Recently, there has been hope that using quantum waves called “magnons” could solve these problems. Unlike electrons that have mass and volume and thus generate heat, waves can process information without heat generation. However, research on magnon movement is still insufficient for application in semiconductor-like information processing technologies.
The research team discovered the “Magnon Orbital Hall Effect” in 2D materials for the first time in the world. This effect occurs when spin waves are quantized and their trajectory bends. First observed in 2010, this new magnon movement has drawn significant attention as it expands the previously known aspects of magnon behavior. Previously, only the electron’s spin degree of freedom could be utilized, but this new movement allows for information processing, which underscores its importance.
The team observed a strong Magnon Orbital Hall Effect in manganese phosphorus trisulfide (MnPS₃), which has a honeycomb lattice structure and is a 2D antiferromagnetic material. This is the first time the Magnon Orbital Hall Effect has been observed in an antiferromagnetic material, which is of interest as a material that can implement both spintronics and orbitronics.
Professor Kim stated, “Establishing the theory of magnon orbital and transport is a unique and challenging problem that no one in the world has yet attempted. We expect to lay the groundwork for an ultra-low-power orbital-based information processing technology that could significantly transcend the limitations of existing information processing technologies.”
The research findings were introduced in the international academic journal “Nano Letters” on May 29.
