Using magnetic worms to engineer nanoscale communication systems

Dirk Grundler and doctoral assistant Sho Watanabe with a broadband spin-wave spectroscopy set up. EPFL / Alain Herzog - Researchers at EPFL have shown that electromagnetic waves coupled to precisely engineered structures known as artificial ferromagnetic quasicrystals allow for more efficient information transmission and processing at the nanoscale. Their research also represents the first practical demonstration of Conway worms, a theoretical concept for the description of quasicrystals. High-frequency electromagnetic waves are used to transmit and process information in microelectronic devices such as smartphones. It's already appreciated that these waves can be compressed using magnetic oscillations known as spin waves or magnons. This compression could pave the way for the design of nanoscale, multifunctional microwave devices with a considerably reduced footprint. But first, scientists need to gain a better understanding of spin waves - or precisely how magnons behave and propagate in different structures.