Navid Qureshi a, A. Painganoor a,b, M.C. Larsen b, M. Ravn-Feld b, K. Beauvois c, J. A. Rodríguez-Velamazán a, D. Vaknin d, P. Steffens a, R. Toft-Petersen b,e and N. B. Christensen b
a Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France
b Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej, Lyngby, Denmark
c IRIG, MEM, MDN, Université Grenoble Alpes, CEA, Grenoble, France
d Ames National Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
e European Spallation Source ERIC, Lund, Sweden
Nature Communications 17, 4033 (2026).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70767-8
The miniaturisation of electronic components is now approaching its physical limits, prompting the search for new memory architectures that are faster, more energy-efficient and capable of storing more information [1]. Magnetoelectric materials, which combine magnetic and electrical properties, offer promising prospects for moving beyond current binary technologies based on ‘0’ and ‘1’ coding [2].
Researchers from the Institut Laue-Langevin, the CEA and international partners have demonstrated that a toroidal antiferromagnet, LiNi₀.₈Fe₀.₂PO₄, can stabilise four distinct, non-volatile magnetic states. Using spherical neutron polarimetry (SNP), a technique particularly sensitive to the microscopic structure of magnetic domains, they have shown that it is possible to selectively induce each of these four states individually through the combined application of perpendicular electric and magnetic fields (see Figure). The four states observed are non-volatile, as they persist after the applied fields are removed. Finally, the authors demonstrate that the mechanism for selecting the four domains stems from the presence of a non-zero Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction.
This demonstration constitutes a proof of concept for a quaternary memory in a bulk antiferromagnetic material, which exhibits neither ferromagnetism nor ferroelectricity, and is therefore insensitive to external fields. By utilising toroidal structure as a degree of freedom for controlling magnetic information, it paves the way for robust spintronic devices with high storage density and low energy consumption.
[1] Keyes, R. W. Physical limits of silicon transistors and circuits. Rep. Prog. Phys. 68, 2701-2746 (2005).
[2] Bibes, M. & Barthélémy, A. Towards a magnetoelectric memory. Nat. Mater. 7, 425-426 (2008)
Figure : Detection of four magnetic states using spherical neutron polarimetry.
Left: (a) Simplified diagram of the SNP experiment: the scattering of polarised neutrons by different magnetic domains in a single crystal results in distinct final spin orientations, enabling the identification of the four magnetic states and illustrating the principle of a quaternary memory with high information density. (b) Schematic of the experimental setup: the sample was cooled ex situ in an electric and magnetic field.
Right: Magnetic domains in LiNi₀.₈Fe₀.₂PO₄: the phase at 22 K (c) exhibits two ferrotoroidal domains linked by time reversal, whilst the phase at 2 K (d) comprises four distinct magnetic domains; each characterised by a specific orientation of the toroidisation and the magnetic interaction vector, leading to different signatures as detected by SNP.