Scientists have discovered a pioneering technique to transform ambient heat into motion in nanoscale devices that could revolutionise future generations of data storage and sensors.

The innovative study by a team of international researchers, including Professor Gino Hrkac from the University of Exeter, UK, created a magnetic system capable of extracting thermal energy using a specific type of gear known as a ratchet.

The technique is also able to turn magnetic energy into the directed rotation of the magnetisation.

Sebastian Gliga, the lead author of the study and Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, recalls: “The system we have studied is an artificial spin ice, a class of geometrically frustrated magnetic materials. We were surprised to see that the geometry of the interactions can be tailored to achieve an active material that acts as a ratchet.”

These findings establish an unexpected route to transforming magnetic energy into the directed motion of magnetisation.

The effect now found in the two-dimensional magnetic structures comes with the promise that it will be of practical use in nanoscale devices such as magnetic nanomotors, actuators or sensors.

The paper, titled ‘Emergent dynamic chirality in a thermally driven artificial spin ratchet’, is published in Nature Materials.

The work was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Vienna Science and Technology Fund and the Royal Society.

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