A research team led by Professor Goki Eda from the Department of Physics and the Department of Chemistry, and the Centre for Advanced 2D Materials, NUS, in collaboration with Professor Hidekazu Kurebayashi from the London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, discovered that the magnetism of a magnetic semiconductor, Cr2Ge2Te6, shows exceptionally strong response to applied electric fields. With electric fields applied, the material was found to exhibit ferromagnetism (a state in which electron spins spontaneously align) at temperatures up to 200 K (-73°C). At such temperatures, ferromagnetic order is normally absent in this material.
“We believe that this unique phenomenon that we observed is not limited to this particular compound and can be expected in other related materials systems. With careful selection of materials, it will be possible to develop devices that operate at room temperature, which could lead to ground breaking new technologies,” added Professor Eda.
