Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC
National Accelerator Laboratory have clocked the fastest-possible electrical
switching in magnetite, a naturally magnetic mineral. Their results could drive
innovations in the tiny transistors that control the flow of electricity across
silicon chips, enabling faster, more powerful computing devices.
Scientists using SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)
X-ray laser found that it takes only 1 trillionth of a second to flip the on-off
electrical switch in samples of magnetite, which is thousands of times faster
than in transistors now in use. The results were published July 28 in Nature
Materials.