“Spin Ice” Promises Breakthrough in Magnetic Technology

“Spin Ice” promises a breakthrough in magnetic technology affecting both mass storage and energy conservation, according to the online journal Nature Communication. Researchers at London Centre for Nanotechnology(LCN), working with teams of scientists from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, are delving into the field of low temperature physics. Their preliminary findings confirm a previously unknown reaffirmation of the Third Law of Thermodynamics and suggest possibilities for significant improvements for mass storage devices, among other applications.

“Spin Ice” Promises Breakthrough in Magnetic Technology Thin-film-of-spin-ice

“Spin Ice” Promises Breakthrough in Magnetic Technology Thin-film-of-spin-ice

Broken down into layman’s terms, this “new” technology may make it possible to “transmit” magnetic fields in much the same way that electricity is transmitted through ordinary copper wires. Meaningful applications of this new technology may make it possible to store much larger amounts of data on computer hard drives, as well as faster operating systems deriving from the direct application of magnetic energy to store and retrieve data.

In a standard mass storage device, electrical impulses are converted into magnetic pulses, which are stored on the “plates” or “platters” inside the hard drive. Those plates are thin disks of aluminum or glass impregnated with a very thin ferrous oxides to create a magnetically sensitive surface. When saving data, a recording head passes over the surface of the plates leaving a pattern of charged and uncharged particles behind on the molecular level. When retrieving data, a second playback head passes over the surface of the plate and the magnetic impulses stored on the plate trigger minute pulses of electricity in the playback head. The computer system then converts that binary code into meaningful data.

This is a layman’s version of how all of the electronic data in existing computer devices (except solid state devices) is stored and retrieved. Spin ice promises, eventually, to revolutionize mass storage devices by using very thin plastic films impregnated with some very esoteric compounds bonded to a non-reactive substrate. When cooled to within one degree of Absolute Zero (-459.67 Fahrenheit or -273.15 Celsius), the entropy level for all other substances is essentially zero…no movement within the atoms or molecules….but spin ice molecules still have spin, hence the name spin ice. They do not reach the zero entropy state, until they reach the very closest threshold to true absolute zero, within 5/100ths of a degree, when the zero entropy state was observed.

More: http://guardianlv.com/2014/03/spin-ice-promises-breakthrough-in-magnetic-technology/

“Spin Ice” Promises Breakthrough in Magnetic Technology

“Spin Ice” Promises Breakthrough in Magnetic Technology

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