Undergraduate West Virginia University students work at an optical set-up in Professor Mikel Holcomb's laboratory in White Hall
Morgantown, W.Va. – West Virginia University condensed matter physics faculty have received a National Science Foundation award for a joint research project with the University of Delaware. The project, “ Spin Control via Topology, Symmetry and Dimensionality,” will investigate new, ultra low-power ways to control electron spin.
Many of the technologies we rely on every day, from computers and communication systems to emerging quantum technologies, ultimately depend on our ability to control electrons and materials. By expanding our understanding of these fundamental processes, we can help create the foundation for the next generation of technological advances.
Every electron has a property called spin that makes it act like a tiny magnet. Although the word “spin” may sound like an electron is physically rotating, it is actually a quantum property. Scientists can use spin to store information, sense changes in the environment, and develop quantum technologies. These applications could help advance computer memory, sensors, and quantum computing.
The project is organized around three connected research areas, each led by WVU faculty members.
Mikel Holcomb, an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is the principal investigator. Her research will focus on improving next-generation computer memory by making it possible to switch between memory states more reliably and with lower energy consumption.
“Modern computing depends on trillions of memory operations every second,” she said. “By discovering new ways to control magnetic materials, we hope to lay the groundwork for memory technologies that are both more efficient and more sustainable.”
Alan Bristow, associate chair and professor, and Subhasish Mandal, assistant professor, will study and characterize altermagnets, an emerging class of quantum materials. The materials could offer new ways to control spin and develop low-power electronic devices.
Edward Flagg, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will lead the third area of the project. He will study how spins confined within semiconductor quantum dots interact with rare-earth ions. The long-term goal is to develop optically controlled quantum memories and quantum networking technologies.
The project brings together a multidisciplinary team of WVU and University of Delaware researchers with expertise in materials synthesis, spectroscopy, theory, quantum materials, and device physics. Other WVU faculty working on the project include Matthew Johnson, Lian Li, Aldo Romero, and Tudor Stanescu. UD faculty Ryan Comes and Joshua Zide will contribute expertise in advanced materials synthesis, creating the complex materials needed to explore new approaches to spin control. John Xiao, also at UD, will contribute expertise in magnetic device fabrication and characterization, helping translate the project's materials discoveries into functional device prototypes.
The project also provides research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Students will work on research aimed at advancing scientists’ understanding of magnetism, quantum materials, and quantum information science. These are skills that will be increasingly important in both research and industry.
“Students will have the opportunity to tackle scientific questions that researchers around the world are actively trying to answer,” said Holcomb. “By participating in this project, they will gain hands-on experience with advanced research techniques while contributing to discoveries in magnetism and quantum materials.”
Professor Mikel Holcomb in her laboratory in White Hall (WVU Photo/Brian Persinger)
Holcomb also received an NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Research Fellows award for a project titled “ From Magnetic Competition to Function: Spontaneous Magnetization Reversal as a Design Principle.” The award will support her work to develop new approaches for ultra-low-energy magnetic switching in magnetic thin films.
The project, conducted in collaboration with Xiao and Comes at UD, will examine how magnetic materials can be engineered to switch their magnetic direction using extremely small magnetic fields. Researchers will study unusual magnetic reversal effects to determine whether they are unique to manganites or if they can occur in specially designed oxide materials with different microscopic interactions.
Together, these Holcomb-led projects will explore ways to control magnetism and electron spin while using very little energy. The research could help scientists to better understand quantum materials and lay the foundation for future advances in low-power electronics, computer memory, and quantum technologies. They will also give WVU students hands-on experience in research at the intersection of physics, material science, and technology.
“The most exciting aspect of this research is the opportunity to uncover entirely new ways to control magnetism and quantum materials,” Holcomb said. “Discoveries made today in the laboratory can become the technologies that shape everyday life in the future."