Discovery of Altermagnetism Confirmed

Researchers have experimentally demonstrated altermagnetism, a third class of magnetism, which could revolutionize spintronics and memory storage.

A team led by Professor Hans-Joachim Elmers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has provided experimental evidence for altermagnetism, a long-debated third type of magnetism.
Altermagnets exhibit a spin-polarized current without a macroscopic magnetic effect, combining the benefits of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets.
The discovery was made using a specially adapted momentum microscope, which allowed the observation of electrons' velocity and spin directions.
Altermagnetism could significantly increase storage capacity in dynamic random access memory by using the magnetic moment of electrons.
The findings open up new possibilities for spintronics, a field that utilizes electron spin to carry information.