Big data and exponential demands for computations are driving an unsustainable rise in global ICT energy use. A new study reviews the use of the ‘multiferroic’ material bismuth-ferrite, which allows for low-energy switching in data storage devices and could be applied in a future generation of ultra-low-energy electronics.

The review advances FLEET’s search for low-energy electronics, bringing together current knowledge on the magnetic order in BFO films, and giving researchers a solid platform to further develop this material in low-energy magnetoelectric memories.

BFO is unique in that it displays both magnetic and electronic ordering (ie, is ‘multiferroic’) at room temperature, allowing for low-energy switching in data storage devices.

MULTIFERROICS: COMBINED MAGNETIC AND ELECTRONIC ORDERING FOR LOW-ENERGY DATA STORAGE

Multiferroics are materials that have more than one ‘order parameter’.

For example, a magnetic material displays magnetic order: you can imagine that the material is made up of lots of neatly arranged (ordered), tiny magnets.

Story Source: Materials provided by ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.