New Delhi, June 28: Computers may soon become faster, smaller and more powerful as scientists said they have discovered magnetic superatoms which can provide a way to design novel nano-scale structures.

A team of researchers, including two from Allahabad-based Harish-Chandra Research Institute (HRI), have discovered the 'magnetic superatom' -- a stable cluster of atoms that can mimic different elements of the periodic table.

The cluster, consisting of one Vanadium and eight Cesium atoms, acts like a tiny magnet that can mimic a single Manganese atom in magnetic strength while preferentially allowing electrons of specific spin orientation to flow through the surrounding shell of Cesium atoms.

"A combination such as the one we have created can lead to significant developments in the area of molecular electronics, a field where researchers study electric currents through small molecules," the scientists said reporting their findings in British science journal 'Nature'.

The study was conducted by a team under Shiv Khanna, professor of physics at the Virginia Commonwealth University along with collaborators at HRI and Naval Research Laboratory in the US.

Magnetic superatoms may also have potential biomedical applications such as sensing, imaging and drug delivery.

Scientists Prasenjit Sen and Kalpataru Pradhan of HRI and their teammates performed an elaborate set of theoretical calculations to study properties of various clusters containing a single Vanadium atom and a number of Cesium atoms.

They found that when a cluster had eight Cesium atoms, it acquired extra stability due to a filled electronic state.

An atom is in a stable configuration when its outermost shell is full. Consequently, when an atom combines with other atoms, it tends to lose or gain valence electrons to acquire a stable configuration.

The researchers believe that the superatom can have significant impact in the area of molecular electronics and spintronics, in which attempts are made to use conducting properties of small molecules to design electronic devices.

Such molecular devices are expected to help make non-volatile data storage, denser integrated devices, higher data processing among other benefits.

The researchers have proposed that by combining gold and manganese, one can make other superatoms that have magnetic moment but will not conduct electricity. These superatoms may also have potential application in healthcare.

HRI is a research institute under the Department of Atomic Energy involved in studies in the fields of mathematics and theoretical physics, including theoretical condensed matter physics and materials science.

Bureau Report

Source >  Zeenews | Jun 28

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