The Little Book of Irish Science SFI Little Book of Irish Science | Page 20

14
Magnetism Switch
Further work by the same group at AMBER revealed
how magnetism can be suddenly switched on by
adding an extra layer just one atom thick to a thin
film of a specific oxide material. When thin layers of
this material were grown, it was discovered that the
magnetism was sensitive to the slightest change in layer
thickness. Below 5 layers of these atoms, the material is
non-magnetic, but magnetism is switched on abruptly
when the number of layers changes from 5 to 6 (or more).
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