The light that is "trapped" inside the magnet becomes more active
Science and Technology Daily News (Reporter Liu Xia) Scientists at the City College of New York published a paper in the journal Nature on the 16th, saying that trapping light in magnetic materials may significantly enhance their inherent properties, and the interaction between light and magnets will also be strengthened. The strong optical response of magnets is important for the development of magnetic lasers and magneto-optical memory devices, as well as emerging quantum transduction applications.
In the latest study, a team led by Vinod Menon reported the properties of a layered magnet that contains strongly bound excitons, which are quasiparticles with particularly strong optical interactions. Because of this, the material itself is capable of capturing light.
Their experiments showed that the material's optical response to magnetic phenomena is orders of magnitude higher than that of ordinary magnets. The researchers noted that the interaction between light and magnet is indeed enhanced because it bounces back and forth inside the magnet.
When an external magnetic field is applied to the material, the near-infrared reflection of light changes greatly, and the material basically changes color, which is a very strong magneto-optical response. But usually, light does not react as strongly to magnets and magnetic phenomena, so the application of magneto-optical effects based technology often requires very sensitive optical detection. The researchers point out that most of the technical applications of magnetic materials today are related to magnetoelectric phenomena. In view of the strong interaction between magnetism and light, it may be possible to develop magnetic lasers and light-controlled magnetic memories in the future.
