Researchers at Florida State University (FSU) have engineered a new crystal that twists magnetism into tiny swirling patterns known as skyrmions, a breakthrough that could lead to faster, denser, and far more energy-efficient data storage.
Skyrmions are nanoscale magnetic whirlpools formed by the direction of atomic spins. Unlike conventional magnetism, where spins line up neatly, skyrmions twist into stable spiral patterns that can be moved using very little energy, making them ideal for next-generation memory and computing.
Building Magnetism By Design
Instead of searching nature for rare skyrmion materials, the FSU team designed one on purpose.
They combined two nearly identical compounds, one containing germanium and the other arsenic. Although chemically similar, the two materials have different crystal symmetries, creating internal “frustration” when merged. That frustration caused the atomic spins to twist, producing the desired skyrmion-like magnetic textures.
“We hoped the structural competition would force the spins to twist,” said co-author Michael Shatruk. “That’s exactly what happened.”
Neutron diffraction experiments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory confirmed the presence of these rare magnetic swirls inside the crystal.
Why Skyrmions Matter
Skyrmions are exciting because they can be written, moved, and erased using extremely low energy. This could dramatically reduce power consumption in data centers and supercomputers, while also enabling much higher storage density.
Instead of today’s moving hard-drive parts or power-hungry memory cells, future devices could use racetrack memory, where skyrmions slide along nanowires to represent digital bits, all without mechanical motion.
Similar experiments at facilities like PETRA III in Germany have already shown that skyrmions can be generated at precise locations, moved at high speed, and operate reliably at gigahertz frequencies, fast enough for real-world computing.
A Path To Future Technologies
Beyond data storage, stable magnetic swirls could also play a role in quantum computing, where preserving fragile quantum information is a major challenge.
What makes this work especially important is its predictive approach. Rather than relying on rare materials, scientists can now use chemistry and crystal design to intentionally create useful magnetic behavior.
“The goal is to know what will happen before we grow the material,” said co-author Ian Campbell. “That’s how you make technologies scalable and affordable.”
Small Swirls, Big Impact
By learning how to control magnetism at the nanoscale, researchers are opening the door to cooler computers, greener data centers, and radically new memory technologies.
These tiny magnetic swirls may one day store the world’s data, quietly, efficiently, and at unprecedented scale.
