Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

  • Login

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Business Law
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • Coronavirus 2020
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Vote Now for Women in Leadership
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read the issue
    • Order a copy
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Nominate execs for 2021

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Home News VCU, UCLA research could lead to better computer memory storage

VCU, UCLA research could lead to better computer memory storage

Research builds on magnetic storage concepts

Published June 30, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Skyrmions on a fabricated device, as seen through magnetic force microscope imaging. Photo courtesy VCU Engineering

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), released research findings Tuesday that could lead to more energy efficient memory storage for computers and other electronic devices.

Magnets are used for computer memory due to their “up” or “down” polarity. The magnetic state can be flipped to write or encode data and store information. This magnetic memory requires a lot of energy, however. But the skyrmion state that VCU and UCLA have discovered does not have “up-down” polarity, but rather is flower-shaped. Researchers say this allows for stronger and more energy-efficient storage for computers and smart devices. 

“Our finding demonstrates the possibility of controlling skyrmion states using electric fields, which could ultimately lead to more compact, energy efficient nanomagnetic devices,” Dhritiman Bhattacharya, the VCU Engineering doctoral candidate working on the research, said in a statement.

The finding outlined in the paper, “Creation and annihilation of non-volatile fixed magnetic skyrmions using voltage control of magnetic anisotropy,” is “a stepping stone toward ultimately developing commercially viable magnetic memory based on this paradigm,” VCU engineering professor Jayasimha Atulasimha said in a statement. The paper authored by Bhattacharya, along with UCLA researchers Seyed Armin Razavi, Hao Wu, Bingqian Dai and Kang L. Wang was published in the journal Nature Electronics on Monday.

VCU researchers have been studying this concept for several years, and have shown that the skyrmion state could reduce errors in writing information to memory and make devices stronger against material defects and thermal noise. The VCU researchers hold a patent on this idea.

The joint VCU/UCLA research is funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, VCU, UCLA and VCU’s C. Kenneth and Dianne Harris Wright Virginia Microelectronics Center.

 

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.

Related Stories

Virginia Business logo

VCU receives $2.5M grant to extend battery life development

Research could extend the life of lithium-ion batteries commonly used in smartphones and other devices

Virginia Business logo

VCU received record $335M in research funding for 2020

Led by $169M in federal funding, university research funding increased 8% from 2019

Virginia Business logo

COVID-19 death toll underreported, study finds

VCU/Yale study published in Journal of the American Medical Association

Trending

Finance/Insurance: STEPHAN Q. CASSADAY

Finance/Insurance: PAUL B. MANNING

Federal Contractors/Technology: JASON PROVIDAKES

Education: ANNE M. KRESS

Artemis I to launch with help from Va. contractors

Sponsored Stories

Why is my Less Than Truckload (LTL) freight pricing going up and my service level going down?  

Beyond Juneteenth – How Capital One is Commemorating and Implementing Change

How We Help Your Business Operate Better

Before the Breach: Get Serious About Cyber Resilience

Professionals are Discovering What it Means to Live Uniquely in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia

Riverside Logistics Celebrates 25th Anniversary!

Girls for a Change Empowers Black Youth for the Future Workforce

The Jackson Ward Collective is equipping Black-owned small businesses with the tools for success

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

Finance/Insurance: STEPHAN Q. CASSADAY

Finance/Insurance: PAUL B. MANNING

Federal Contractors/Technology: JASON PROVIDAKES

Education: ANNE M. KRESS

Artemis I to launch with help from Va. contractors

Sponsored Stories

Why is my Less Than Truckload (LTL) freight pricing going up and my service level going down?  

Beyond Juneteenth – How Capital One is Commemorating and Implementing Change

How We Help Your Business Operate Better

Before the Breach: Get Serious About Cyber Resilience

Professionals are Discovering What it Means to Live Uniquely in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia

Riverside Logistics Celebrates 25th Anniversary!

Girls for a Change Empowers Black Youth for the Future Workforce

The Jackson Ward Collective is equipping Black-owned small businesses with the tools for success

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2023 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk