Developing new magnetic device materials

Luqiao Liu, an assistant professor of electrical engineering, is working on antiferromagnets—new magnetic materials that can be used at room temperature by reversing their electron spin—that could be the basis for spintronic computer memory that lasts for a long time.

During Stephanie Bauman’s internship with the Materials Processing Center and the Center for Materials Science and Engineering’s Summer Scholars program, she made and tested these new materials, including samples of manganese gallium.

According to Bauman, a physics major at the University of South Florida, “in our project we’re working on the area of spintronics, anti-ferromagnetic devices that switch electron spin controlled by a current.”In order to lay down thin films, I’m using a lot of new tools, like the sputterer and vibrating sample magnetometer.