Magnetic fields on a conveyor belt

The scientists lead by Dr. Carsten Hucho found a way to move smallest possible magnetic entities – so-called flux quanta – with the help of acoustic waves. Their results may open new ways to process data. The study is published in the Journal Solid State Communications (Vol. 142, p. 212).

Currently, electrons are used to transport information and process data but scientists are looking for alternatives. One possibility is the use of the magnetic properties of electrons, the so-called spin. Another avenue is the magnetic flux. „You cannot pin down single electrons“, says Carsten Hucho, „and their spin-orientation is not permanent.” Both problems can be avoided by using flux quanta in superconductors. These tiny magnetic fields, also called vortices, remain stable for a long time – theoretically infinite. ”We can keep track of an individual flux quantum – and now we can move the flux around”, says Hucho.

The scientists at PDI managed to transport magnetic flux quanta with a surface acoustic wave. The vortices move with the soundwave like on a conveyor-belt. So will these new findings accelerate the development of so-called “fluxtronics” after electronics and spintronics? Hucho cautions that “there is still a long way to go.” The main goal of the study was to show that magnetic flux quanta in superconductors can be manipulated in a well-defined way.

This possibility of manipulating the vortex motion and vortex density by a dynamic external parameter has far-reaching technological consequences besides the storage and processing of data. For instance, tiny magnetic particles could be transported in some sort of conveyor belt. “This would be of interest for molecular analytics in a so-called lab on a chip”, says Hucho.