Researchers from the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) have created magnetic memories which do not lose data when placed in contact with a magnetic field, representing the first time this has ever been achieved.

This Spanish research opens up new possibilities for the design of more robust and secure magnetic memory. Currently, the data that is stored in most computers, cameras, credit cards and public transportation passes is kept as zeroes and ones, defined by the orientation of the magnetic moment (a tiny compass), which is a property of the ferromagnetic materials composing the memory. This means that the stored data can be lost if the memory card is placed near a magnet or an external magnetic field.

To solve this problem, researchers from Barcelona’s Institute of Materials Science studied the use of other, antiferromagnetic materials as an alternative for data storage. These materials are composed of many small compasses (magnetic moments) that alternatively point in opposite directions, and which are not sensitive to perturbations when placed in close contact with conventional magnets.

These scientists have shown that the materials are not sensitive to external magnetic fields and, in addition, confirm that data cannot be written upon them.

Also collaborating in this project were laboratories from the United States and the Czech Republic. The discovery was published in the scientific magazine Nature Materials.