Research on magnetic atoms attracts international attention · 31. August 2011
Microscopic tests with expensive equipment in 267-degree cold are helping to create international awareness of physics research at Aalborg University after the renowned scientific journal "Nature Physics" published promising results on magnetic atoms.
Lars Diekhöner, Associate Professor from the Department of Physics and Nanotechnology and his former PhD student Jakob Bork collaborated with research institutions in Germany, Hungary, France and Switzerland on the underlying science. The equipment-intensive experiments were mainly conducted by Jakob Bork at the Max-Planck Institute in Stuttgart where he stayed a part of the time for his now-completed PhD project.
The experiments were conducted using a scanning tunneling microscope that can show surface composition down to the atomic level. One can also learn something about the electronic and magnetic properties of the surface. In this case, researchers have used the equipment to determine the interaction between two magnetic cobalt atoms:
- The way it works is that you have a very sharp metal needle with a single atom stuck on the end. We’ve now succeeded in placing a cobalt atom outermost on the needle, bringing the needle with the cobalt atom on the tip over to another cobalt atom on the surface and then letting them approach each other in a controlled manner. The experiments demonstrate how the atoms interact when the distance becomes sufficiently small, explains Lars Diekhöner.
Relevant for electronics
The results help to provide a better understanding of the different magnetic phases of materials. It may eventually have implications for data storage because magnetic structures are used to store information electronically on hard drives. In the eternal quest for improved storage technology, it is therefore important to understand the smallest magnetic building blocks in every detail.
As with all basic research, concrete applications are a ways off in the future, but the positive effect of publishing the results in one of the leading scientific journals in physics are more immediate. Lars Diekhöner and his colleagues can already be happy about the fact that support from the Obel Foundation and others ensures investment in new specialized equipment in the form of a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope for the labs in Aalborg, affording them opportunities on equal footing with potential partners abroad. Lars Diekhöner can thus look forward to further developing ideas and studying the properties of materials on the atomic scale.
Further information and contact:
• Article in Nature Physics.
• Lars Diekhöner, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, AAU, tel. +45 9940 9217, mobile 4029 1296, ld@nano.aau.dk.
• Jakob Bork has been employed as R&D Engineer at Mekoprint, upon completing his PhD.
