A team at the University of Delaware has demonstrated a novel mechanism by which magnons, waves generated by synchronized electron spins in magnetic materials, can induce measurable electric polarization in antiferromagnetic materials, linking magnetism directly to electricity, tells Science Daily. Traditional electronics rely on the movement of charged electrons, a process that inherently generates heat and limits performance. In contrast, magnons transport information without net charge flow, offering a promising route to ultrafast, energy-efficient devices.
In their work published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers show that when magnons propagate through antiferromagnets, they can induce electric polarization, thanks to intrinsic coupling between spin waves and the material’s lattice structure. This coupling means that the traveling magnetic wave carries a signal that can be detected as an electrical voltage, a bridge between magnetic information carriers and conventional electronics.
Because antiferromagnetic magnons can operate at terahertz frequencies, roughly a thousand times faster than magnons in many ferromagnetic systems, this approach holds potential for next-generation computing systems that are orders of magnitude faster than today’s chips. The researchers are now focused on validating their theoretical predictions through experiments and exploring how these magnons interact with light to further modulate signals and control device behavior.
More broadly, this research fits into the center’s ambition to develop hybrid quantum materials and devices where magnetic, electronic, and quantum properties are engineered together. For engineering audiences, the implications are significant: we could see a transition from charge-based electronics to wave-based information carriers, enabling devices with lower energy consumption, higher speeds, and less heat. This paves the way for new memory, logic, and communication architectures built on magnetism-electric coupling rather than purely on moving electrons.