Chemical disorder gives new ceramic film magnetic properties for potential low-power electronics

A material thinner than a human hair may foster faster computing devices that demand less energy and store more data, according to a multi-institutional team led by researchers in the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

In a study published in the journal Advanced Materials, the researchers describe a novel material with complex magnetic properties that can improve the efficiency of electronics, said lead author Saeed S. I. Almishal, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering and a faculty member in the Materials Research Institute.

For more than a decade, the research team has built on the 2015 introduction of advanced ceramic materials known as high-entropy oxides, or HEOs, pioneered by co-author Jon-Paul Maria, interim head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Dorothy Pate Enrich Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. The team created a fabrication method to generate the new film, which is itself an HEO.

"A new generation of advanced electronics will require more efficient control of the internal electrical and magnetic signals that make everyday devices work," Almishal said. "We developed this new material with distinct properties that can help engineers refine magnetic functions to drive greater device speeds with less power consumption."

Chemical disorder drives magnetic signals

HEOs stand out for a distinct ability to unite several diverse elements at the atomic level in single crystalline structures. These oxides set the groundwork for a wide range of new materials useful in science, engineering and energy applications, Almishal explained.

For this latest advancement, Almishal and colleagues focused on chemical disorder within the perfectly ordered crystal structures, an intersection the group called "anomalous crystallinity"—a new scientific definition in the field. The team experimented with this crystallinity to form layered interfaces and generate a novel materials science phenomenon in magnetism.

The phenomenon assembles disparate atoms to drive magnetic signals, which require less energy than electrical current to transmit and store data within electronic devices, Almishal said. A combination of electrical current and magnetism enables electronic device function and data retention.

Historically, magnetism has been central to how devices hold information. Elevating the role of magnetic signals can reduce device reliance on electrical current, improve data storage and reduce overall energy consumption, as Almishal noted.

Refining the film and testing magnetism

Perfecting fabrication of the material—a thin film—took a decade, a process that he compared to crafting a paint and then applying it to a wall. The long effort in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee merged materials science and physics to create the layered interfaces inside the film.

Researchers measured magnetic phenomena along these interfaces, developed experiments to refine the film and made it suitable for future use inside electronic devices. According to Almishal, this work and a 2025 paper they published in Advanced Science represent a first step toward bringing together magnonics, a physics subfield in magnetics, with spintronics, which centers on the spinning behavior of electrons and their magnetic capabilities.

Blending those areas with Penn State's established strength in more traditional electronics represents a game changer in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Almishal said.

"It's a new direction for us," said Almishal, who is developing the first magnetics laboratory in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. "We soon will have state-of-the-art capabilities for a wide array of magnetism testing."

The emerging Quantum and Magnetic Materials Measurements Lab is part of the Almishal Research Group in quantum materials science, housed in the Materials Research Institute in the Millennium Science Complex. Undergraduate and graduate students are part of the group; the lab is expected to feature a range of tools to explore magnetic properties, including under varying heat conditions.

Potential efficiency gains for data centers

Almishal said the team leading the new material's development plans to collaborate with industry on further development of the film for use in everyday consumer electronics. Maria said the work offers potential for much greater efficiency in large-scale data centers, which consume significant power.

"Such materials offer a potential approach to achieving high efficiency—10 to 100 times more efficient—in data centers," Maria said, noting the efficiency stems largely from the use of magnetism.

Basic research laid the groundwork

The progress speaks to the critical value and snowball effect of basic research, Maria added. This includes the cultivation of HEOs starting more than a decade ago.

That early effort began not with a specific endpoint but with a general desire to understand advanced possibilities in metallurgy, the science of creating alloys and other metal components, said Almishal, whom Maria advised as a doctoral student.

"Early-stage experiments give rise to the landmark advancements that make impactful change," Maria said. "It's important that we recognize the long genesis of the work."