Bhubaneswar: Scientists from IIT Bhubaneswar, in collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University, USA, have theoretically predicted a new two-dimensional material that exhibits a rare form of magnetism known as “i-wave altermagnetism”.
The discovery could pave the way for the next generation of electronic devices that are faster, more compact and energy-efficient, with applications in high-density memory, spin-based transistors, terahertz communication and quantum technologies, IIT Bhubaneswar said in a statement.
The study led by Dr. Manish Kumar Mohanta of the Department of Physics at IIT Bhubaneswar has been published in Nano Letters, an international journal in nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Altermagnetism is gaining attention in condensed matter physics because it combines the best features of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. Unlike conventional magnets, altermagnetic materials produce almost no stray magnetic fields. That means electronic components can be packed closer together without magnetic interference.
At the same time, these materials can generate and control spin-polarised electric currents — a key requirement for spintronics. In spintronics, information is carried not just by the charge of electrons, but also by their spin, which could lead to devices that process data faster while consuming less power. The IIT Bhubaneswar team predicts that a monolayer of iron trichloride, FeCl₃, just three atoms thick, can host this complex i-wave symmetry altermagnetic state. The researchers say such a state could allow precise control over electron spins and serve as a platform for ultrafast, low-power electronic technologies.
“With the growing demand for high-speed and energy-efficient computing, this discovery offers a new direction for designing future electronic devices with improved speed, efficiency and reliability,” said Dr. Mohanta. The material could eventually contribute to advances in data storage, AI hardware, wearable electronics, terahertz devices and quantum information systems.
According to the researchers, the finding expands the growing family of altermagnetic materials and provides a promising route for developing practical spintronic devices that could outperform current technologies in both size and energy use.
