US department of energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
invented the fastest electrical switching in magnetite- a naturally
magnetic mineral. This scientific finding will enable faster, more
powerful computing devices. Scientists used SLAC's Linac Coherent Light
Source (LCLS) X-ray laser to find that it takes only 1 trillionth of a
second to flip the on-off electrical switch in samples of magnetite,
which is thousands of times faster than the electrical switch used in
transistors.
This scientific finding will throw new light on the electronic
properties of magnetite. We already know the basic magnetic properties
of magnetite. In fact, for the first time the speed limit for electrical
switching in magnetite was revealed by this scientific breakthrough.
Scientists hit magnetite with a visiblelight laser, which resulted
into the fragmentation of the material's electronic structure at an
atomic scale, rearranging it to form the islands. The laser blast was
followed by an ultra bright, ultra short X-ray pulse. It allowed
researchers to study the timing and details of changes in the sample
excited by the initial laser strike.
After adjusting the interval of the X-ray pulses, the scientists
measured the time duration of the material to shift from a
non-conducting to an electrically conducting state and observed the
structural changes during this switch. The magnetite was needed to be
cooled to minus 190 degrees Celsius to lock its electrical charges in
place.
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