The world is generating data at a staggering pace. Every search query, video stream, medical scan, and AI training run adds to the enormous digital ocean in which modern society floats. While this digital revolution drives progress in healthcare, communication, and technology, it also carries a hidden cost: energy. Within just a few decades, the sheer volume of data being stored and processed could consume nearly 30% of the world’s energy supply, making information itself one of the planet’s largest energy drains.
This looming crisis has spurred scientists worldwide to rethink the very foundations of digital memory. The challenge is not simply storing more data, but storing it more efficiently—without exhausting the planet’s resources. And now, a research team at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has unveiled a breakthrough that could change the trajectory of this global problem.
The Discovery That Changes the Game
Researchers at Chalmers have developed an atomically thin material that integrates two opposing magnetic forces—ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism—within a single crystalline structure. This innovation allows memory devices to consume up to ten times less energy than existing technologies.
Published in Advanced Materials, their study demonstrates a leap that scientists have been pursuing for decades: merging two magnetic states that normally exist in separate materials into one seamless system. The result is a material that could pave the way for an entirely new class of ultra-efficient, reliable memory chips for AI, smartphones, data centers, and advanced computing technologies.
“This coexistence of magnetic orders in a single, thin material is a breakthrough,” explains Dr. Bing Zhao, lead author of the study. “Its unique properties make it exceptionally well-suited for developing memory chips that use dramatically less energy.”
Why Magnetism Matters
At the core of modern digital memory lies magnetism—the invisible force that has guided compasses for centuries and now drives the most advanced technologies of our age. Two fundamental magnetic states dominate this world.
Ferromagnetism, familiar to anyone who has held a refrigerator magnet, occurs when electrons align uniformly, producing a strong external magnetic field. Antiferromagnetism, by contrast, involves electrons pointing in opposite directions, canceling out their magnetic effects. Both states are useful in memory technology: ferromagnets allow for strong, stable data storage, while antiferromagnets enable faster, interference-free operations.
Traditionally, to take advantage of both, engineers had to build complex multilayered devices by stacking ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic films. But this method created significant problems: mismatched layers, weak interfaces, and complicated manufacturing processes. The Chalmers discovery solves these challenges in a single stroke by embedding both behaviors in one ultrathin crystal.
Tilted Magnetism: A Hidden Advantage
One of the most striking features of this new material is the “tilt” in its magnetic structure. Normally, flipping the orientation of electrons in memory devices requires applying an external magnetic field—a process that is both energy-intensive and slow. But in the Chalmers material, the coexistence of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism creates an internal force that naturally tilts the system.
This tilt makes it dramatically easier for electrons to switch direction, enabling memory devices to operate without external magnetic fields. In practical terms, this means storing and processing data with far less energy, reducing consumption by a factor of 10.
“The tilted magnetism allows for rapid, effortless switching,” says Dr. Zhao. “By removing the need for external magnetic fields, we eliminate one of the most power-hungry steps in memory operation.”
Simplicity Meets Reliability
The team achieved this innovation using a magnetic alloy of cobalt, iron, germanium, and tellurium. These elements form a two-dimensional layered material in which the magnetic states naturally coexist. Instead of being held together by traditional chemical bonds, the crystal’s layers are bound by van der Waals forces, the same weak interactions that allow materials like graphene to be peeled into atom-thin sheets.
This structural simplicity provides two critical advantages. First, it avoids the fragile interfaces of multilayered memory devices, where mismatches often compromise stability and efficiency. Second, it simplifies manufacturing. Producing reliable, ultra-thin magnetic films is far easier when everything is built into one seamless material rather than multiple stacked layers.
As Professor Saroj P. Dash, leader of the project, explains: “A material with multiple magnetic behaviors eliminates interface issues in multilayer stacks. It’s like having a perfectly pre-assembled system that researchers have been chasing for decades.”
The Road Ahead
The implications of this discovery stretch across the entire technological landscape. AI training, which requires massive amounts of data processing, could become far more energy-efficient. Smartphones could run longer on a single charge. Data centers, some of the world’s largest energy consumers, could cut their power usage dramatically. And beyond efficiency, this technology offers enhanced reliability, opening doors to new generations of computing hardware.
Yet as with all breakthroughs, challenges remain. Scaling up production, integrating the material into commercial devices, and ensuring long-term stability will require years of further research and engineering. But the principle has been proven: a single material can house opposing magnetic forces, creating memory devices that are faster, simpler, and ten times more efficient.
A Future Powered by Smarter Memory
The Chalmers discovery is more than just a technical achievement—it is a glimpse into the future of our digital world. As the flood of global data continues to rise, innovations like this will be essential not only for advancing technology but also for sustaining it within the limits of our planet.
In the end, the story of this atomically thin material is the story of human ingenuity: the determination to solve problems that seem insurmountable, to merge opposites into harmony, and to find elegant solutions where complexity once reigned. It is a reminder that even as data threatens to overwhelm us, science can find new ways to keep the world connected—more efficiently, more sustainably, and more beautifully than ever before.
More information: Bing Zhao et al, Coexisting Non‐Trivial Van der Waals Magnetic Orders Enable Field‐Free Spin‐Orbit Torque Magnetization Dynamics, Advanced Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202502822
