How TIFR Scientists Unlocked the Hidden Power of Stretched Materials
In Latest sciencetific reseatch the Scientists at TIFR Mumbai have shown how a small “tweak” can turn an ordinary material into something with extraordinary properties. Stretching the material unevenly along different directions.
They studied a compound called Mn₃Sn, where manganese atoms form a Kagome lattice—a triangular, basket-weave pattern. In its natural state, the spins of these atoms lie flat in a plane and cancel each other out, so no sideways current (Hall effect) is seen.
But when the researchers grew thin films of Mn₃Sn on mismatched surfaces, the film got anisotropic strain—a fancy way of saying the atoms were stretched unevenly. This made the spins tilt out of the flat plane, breaking the symmetry. Suddenly, the material produced a strong Hall voltage at room temperature.
The effect doesn’t come from an ordinary magnetic field, but from a quantum phenomenon called the Berry phase, which alters the way electrons move when the spins tilt.
Even more exciting, the team discovered they could control these tilted spins with electric pulses. This means Mn₃Sn films can store not just two states (like 0 and 1 in today’s memory), but multiple distinct states, each with a unique voltage. It’s like having a chest of drawers instead of just two boxes.
Such tunable spin states could be used for multi-state memory and neuromorphic computing—offering new, energy-efficient ways to store and process data. This makes the material a strong candidate for sustainable computing technologies in the future.
The implications of this work are pretty exciting:
- Multi-state memory
- Today’s computers store data in binary (0 or 1).
- This material can hold several stable states in the same spot.
- That means more information stored in less space.
- Energy-efficient computing
- Switching between these spin states needs very little power.
- This could reduce the huge electricity bills of data centers.
- Neuromorphic computing
- The material behaves a bit like neurons in the brain, which have many possible states, not just on/off.
- This makes it useful for building brain-like processors that can learn and adapt.
- New physics toolkit
- Beyond applications, the work shows how strain can “tune” quantum properties of matter.
- This could open up new pathways for designing custom materials with desired electronic or magnetic behavior.
This research can open new venue of opportuninites for many new startup in India, specially when India is pursuing its semi conductor Dream. Further it can also reduce reliance on tightly cotnrolled Chip Supply chain.
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