
Scientists discover new type of magnet - dnetesn
https://phys.org/news/2019-02-scientists-magnet.html
======
raziel2701
This system is an antiferromagnet, so it does not have a net magnetization, so
pretty much all the common applications we think of such as hard drives,
motors etc are out the window.

I would say this work falls under the category of a curiosity, as its magnetic
order exists at low temperatures and I can't imagine why you'd use such an
exotic antiferromagnetic material for room temperature operations.

It's nice that the paper is freely available.

~~~
outworlder
> I would say this work falls under the category of a curiosity

Don't all things fall under this category, until someone finds an use?

[https://nationalmaglab.org/education/magnet-
academy/history-...](https://nationalmaglab.org/education/magnet-
academy/history-of-electricity-magnetism/museum/faraday-motor-1821)

~~~
sl1ck731
Similarly Heinrich Hertz and radio waves:

"It's of no use whatsoever[...] this is just an experiment that proves Maestro
Maxwell was right—we just have these mysterious electromagnetic waves that we
cannot see with the naked eye. But they are there."

------
kirkbackus
Referenced article
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08497-3](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08497-3)

------
benj111
So its faster switching?

What could this be used for other than hard drives?

More efficient/powerful motors and dynamos? Some kind of persistent ram?
Anything else?

~~~
raziel2701
The material is an antiferromagnet so there's not net magnetic moment and thus
you don't have a magnetization to switch. This is not a material that will
find applications in hard drives, motors or anything else that requires a
magnetization.

The headline is technically correct, as anything with magnetic order is a
magnet, but colloquially we understand magnets as something that can stick to
some metals, which requires the magnet to be of ferro/ferrimagnetic order.

This system (USb2) is antiferromagnetic at low temperatures too, so it's not
the best choice for applications right off the bat. It's a result that will be
of interest mostly to theoreticians of magnetism and low temperature
physicists, not so much for the engineers and other scientists with an eye for
the applied stuff.

~~~
benj111
I thought "enhancing the performance of data storage technologies" referred to
hard drives? What else would it refer to???

~~~
raziel2701
That's what phys.org says but the authors of the paper make no comments
whatsoever about applications.

phys.org is reaching quite a bit in making that statement, the wonders of
science journalism.

------
rudolph9
I wonder if this is applicable to electric motors? Probably not since the
force is described as “unstable” in the article but interesting to think
about.

~~~
raziel2701
It's not, it's a low temperature antiferromagnet, so there's no net
magnetization like in a ferro/ferrimagnet.

I think it's a bit deceitful of the headline to call this a new magnet since
most laypeople think of a magnet as something that has a net magnetization,
whereas this material, while technically a magnet because it has magnetic
order, lacks the one defining characteristic in laypeople's minds: it won't
stick to other metals via a magnetic field.

------
Aardwolf
Too bad it's not a magnetic monopole, if those existed they'd be so fun to
play with :)

~~~
ridgeguy
Check out this new item in the toy box. [1]

[1] [https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/01/funky-mirror-
turns-e...](https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/01/funky-mirror-turns-
electric-field-into-a-magnetic-field-with-missing-pole/)

