Challenging times The first grand challenge, an

Challenging times

The first grand challenge, announced in October 2015, was about the creation of a new type of computer capable of handling large amounts of data and able to operate with the energy efficiency of a human brain (http://go.nature.com/uAQTPC).

http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v11/n5/fu...NTczODI5S0




Small and powerful: Pushing the boundaries of nanomagnets

A large magnetic anisotropy is absolutely crucial to these nanoparticles because it prevents fluctuations of the magnetic moment, a phenomenon that limits the use of these particles in memory storage and many other applications. To become technologically relevant, nano-magnets must be small, have a large magnetic anisotropy, and be thermally stable.
Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University have computationally investigated CoFe2C nanoparticles with mixed CoxC and FexC carbide phases that fit this exact description. After promising theoretical results, the researchers successfully synthesized the CoFe2C particles with the properties that were computationally expected.
The newly synthesized particles have been proven thermally stable (and thus store information) up to 790K at sizes as small as 5 nanometers. Additionally, these particles have a magnetic anisotropy of 4.6 ± 2 x 106 J/m3, which is ten times larger than cobalt nanoparticles, and magnetic properties comparable to some rare earth magnets, the strongest permanent magnets ever created. These CoFe2C nanoparticles possess the unique characteristics of both small size and a large anisotropy and could represent the future of data storage devices

http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=43330.php