An international team of scientists led by剑桥大学的卡文迪许实验室has used 3D printing technology to develop a novel set of microscopic nanomagnets.
使用一个自定义创建3 d印刷过程中,nanomagnets are in the shape of a DNA-inspired double helix. According to the research team, this unconventional structure lends itself to strong magnetic field interactions between the helices in a manner never seen before. Specifically, by twisting around one another, the 3D printed helices produce nanoscale topological textures in the magnetic field they generate.
The team believes it can harness this phenomenon to closely control magnetic forces at the nanoscale, paving the way for ‘next generation’ magnetic devices.
克莱尔·唐纳利（Claire Donnelly）, first author of the study, explains, “This new ability to pattern the magnetic field at this length scale allows us to define what forces will be applied to magnetic materials and to understand how far we can go with patterning these magnetic fields. If we can control those magnetic forces on the nanoscale, we get closer to reaching the same degree of control as we have in two dimensions.”
The limitations of 2D magnetic systems
尽管您可能没有意识到这一点，但磁性设备对于我们生活的许多不同部分都是不可或缺的。磁铁用于产生能源应用，它们用于数据存储，对于日常计算至关重要。
不幸的是，传统的计算设备基于2D磁系统，正迅速达到其微型化极限。因此，为了推进计算和数据存储，剑桥团队指出，过渡到3D磁系统的兴趣越来越大。使用3D纳米线体系结构，3D磁系统可以使自己适应更高的信息密度（更多的物理空间存储空间）和整体改进的性能。
Donnelly adds, “There has been a lot of work around a yet-to-be-established technology called racetrack memory, first proposed by Stuart Parkin. The idea is to store digital data in the magnetic domain walls of nanowires to produce information storage devices with high reliability, performance, and capacity.”
到目前为止，过渡到这个新领域已被证明很困难，因为有必要理解高达3D对系统的磁化和磁场的影响。
As such, Donnelly and the rest of the team have spent the last few years researching and developing new methods to visualize 3D magnetic structures. They’ve also developed a 3D printing technique for magnetic materials – the one used in the present study.
Scaling magnetization to the third dimension
Once the nanomagnets were 3D printed, the Cambridge team performed their 3D measurements at thePaul Scherrer Institute的瑞士光源的Pollux光束线。It is reportedly the only beamline to offer soft X-ray laminography – an advanced X-ray imaging technique.
The researchers found that their 3D printed helical magnets featured a different magnetization texture to what is usually seen in 2D systems. Pairs of walls between magnetic domains were found to be coupled, resulting in deformation. By attracting one another, the walls were seen to rotate and ‘lock into place’, generating strong bonds between the helices of the printed magnets (much like the bonds in a DNA double helix).
Donnelly说：“我们不仅发现3D结构导致磁化中有趣的拓扑纳米纹状体，在那里我们相对习惯于看到此类纹理，而且在磁性流浪场中，这揭示了令人兴奋的新纳米级现场配置！”
在成功使用三维磁化的3D打印磁铁之后，科学家现在将探索具有三维磁场的更复杂系统的生产。这项工作显示了各种领域的承诺，包括粒子捕获，成像技术和智能材料。
Further details of the study can be found in the paper titled ‘Complex free-space magnetic field textures induced by three-dimensional magnetic nanostructures’.
磁性材料的3D打印允许创建智能系统和大量新型应用。来自Xiamen University以前有3D printed radio frequency (RF) probe headscapable of performing both routine and unconventional Magnetic Resonance (MR) experiments. MR technology is widely used in scientific research, geological surveys, and clinical diagnosis via MRI scans.
Elsewhere, researchers from theUniversity of Grenoble以前有developed a method of3D printing microstructures with deformable magnetic fields。The approach involves adding magnetic microbeads to a standard two-photon polymerization (2PP) 3D printed object. By tailoring the properties of the materials, as well as the orientation of the beads, the scientists were able to create complex nano-tweezers that could be operated using only an external magnetic field.
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特色图像显示了3D打印的螺旋纳米磁体及其新型磁场。图片通过剑桥大学。
