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Metal Memory, No Magnets! 🧲

Metal Memory, No Magnets! 🧲

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Anthony Ao
July 23, 2025

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Metal Memory, No Magnets! 🔥

This low-symmetry material produces powerful spin-orbit torque (SOT)—a key mechanism for manipulating magnetism in next-generation memory and logic technologies. Credit: The Nano Magnetism and Quantum Spintronics Lab/University of Minnesota Twin Cities, edited

A nickel‑tungsten alloy called Ni₄W delivers an unusually large, multi‑directional spin‑orbit torque (SOT). That torque lets engineers flip a magnetic “bit” without needing an external magnetic field (“field‑free” switching).

How does Ni₄W achieve this?

Its low‑symmetry crystal structure produces spin currents pointing in several directions at once. Those currents generate strong out‑of‑plane and in‑plane torques, giving designers a new, efficient way to control magnetization. Tests showed high SOT efficiency both in stand‑alone Ni₄W films and when the alloy was paired with a thin tungsten layer.

Industrial upside Ni₄W is made from common, inexpensive metals and can be deposited with standard sputtering tools, removing two big barriers—cost and compatibility—that have slowed earlier exotic SOT materials.

Takeaways

Why It Matters

Field‑free switching slashes the energy required to write data in magnetic memories and logic chips. The Minnesota team estimates that devices built with Ni₄W could cut the write‑power budget of everything from smartphones to data‑center drives.

Next steps: The group (which already holds a patent) plans to fabricate smaller prototype devices and explore integration with commercial spin‑transfer torque MRAM stacks under the federally funded SMART/nCORE program.

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The PhDLevel Team
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