Study: Chromium has magnetic properties

HANOVER, N.H., April 17 (UPI) -- U.S. physicists say they have discovered the element chromium has magnetic properties -- a finding that might lead to new data-storage technologies.

"The phenomena that we have discovered are likely to lead to new applications of chromium," said Dartmouth University Associate Professor Yeong-Ah Soh, who led the study.

She said she discovered chromium displays different electrical properties upon heating and cooling. The differences reflect subtle internal rearrangements of the electrons and their spins.

In ferromagnets -- the kind of magnets one might see on a refrigerator -- the spins of electrons interact with each other leading to alignment, she said. In anti-ferromagnets, however, the interactions between neighboring electron spins are opposed.

"Our research opens the entire new field of controlled electrical effects at a slightly-larger-than-quantum scale in anti-ferromagnets," Soh said. "The findings show that not only ferromagnets can be used in spintronics; there is a possibility anti-ferromagnets can also be employed to manipulate and store information."

The study that included former post-doctoral researcher Ravi Kummamuru is reported in the journal Nature.