A team of physicists has taken pictures of a theorized but previously undetected magnetic wave, the discovery of which offers the potential to be an energy-efficient means to transfer data in consumer electronics.
The research, which appears in the journal Physical Review Letters, was conducted by scientists at New York University, Stanford University, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
"This is an exciting discovery because it shows that small magnetic waves—known as spin-waves—can add up to a large one in a magnet, a wave that can maintain its shape as it moves," explains Andrew Kent, a professor of physics at NYU and the study's senior author.
Ref: X-ray Detection of Transient Magnetic Moments Induced by a Spin Current in Cu. Physical Review Letters (2015) | DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.096601