March 2015

Researchers at Trinity College in Dublin discovered a new class of magnetic materials, based on Mn-Ga alloys. The Mn₂Ru_xGa, a zero-moment half metal, has some unique properties that may make it especially suited for spintronics applications.

The Mn₂Ru_xGa material has no net magnetic moment, but it has full spin polarization. This means that is does not suffer from its own demagnetizing forces and it does not create any stray magnetic fields. It is also immune to external magnetic fields. Coupled with spin polarization, this means it may be extremely efficient in spintronics as there will be no radiation loss during magnetic switching.