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An exotic, swirling object with the sci-fi name “magnetic skyrmion” could be the future of nanoelectronics and memory storage. Physicists have now succeeded in making magnetic skyrmions, formerly found at temperatures close to absolute zero, at room temperature. Skyrmions were originally described over 50 years ago as a type of hypothetical particle in nuclear physics.
Actual magnetic skyrmions were discovered in 2009, as chiral patterns of magnetic moments—think of a moment as a tiny compass needle—in materials close to absolute zero temperature, in the presence of a strong magnetic field. According to the research, this is a potentially new way to store information, and the energy costs are expected to be extremely low.Image credit: Kai Liu/UC Davis
