New method reveals magnetism at the atomic level

Magnetism is everywhere – in computers, mobile phones, cars, and even in medical devices. To develop better and smarter technologies, scientists need to understand magnetism down to the atomic scale. In a new breakthrough, researchers from Uppsala University and Jülich Research Centre, Germany, have developed a method that makes it possible to study magnetism with unprecedented detail. The results are published in Nature Materials.

Using a state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscope, the researchers have visualized the tiniest building blocks of magnetism – the orbital and spin moments of electrons in individual atomic planes. The technique makes it possible to map variations in magnetic properties at sub-atomic resolution, something that no other method has achieved so far.

“Our method allows us to see magnetic properties in materials with atomic precision. This enables us to observe how the movement and spin of electrons behave in the crystal lattice,” says Hasan Ali, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Materials Science, Uppsala University, and first author of the study. The research was carried out at the Ernst Ruska-Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich, within the framework of his international postdoctoral fellowship.

The team studied an iron crystal – one of the best-known magnetic materials – and made a surprising discovery: even within a single crystal, the ratio between orbital and spin-related magnetic moments varies significantly from place to place. These subtle differences have a major impact on the material’s magnetic properties and were previously impossible to measure.

“This is a major step forward in our understanding of magnetism. The new method will allow us to design materials to be even more efficient and powerful in the future,” says Rafal Dunin-Borkowski, professor and director at Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Beyond its importance for basic research, the discovery also opens up opportunities for technological innovation. In the future, the method could contribute to energy-efficient storage solutions or advances in spintronics – a young field that uses electron spin for information processing.

This Project was funded by Swedish Research Council.