19/11/2025
Scientists have discovered a new kind of magnetism in a rare-earth compound that can be used in quantum and spintronic technologies. It envisions a new class of materials that can be tuned to design faster, more energy-efficient magnetic and quantum devices.
The study led by Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research JNCASR, for the first time, demonstrated that single-crystalline grown thin films of neodymium nitride (NdN), exhibit ferromagnetism arising from the orbital angular momentum of electrons, marking a fundamental departure from conventional magnetic behavior.
This landmark finding, published recently in ACS Nano (American Chemical Society), opens new possibilities in the emerging field of “orbitronics”, which aims to harness the orbital motion of electrons for future quantum and spintronic technologies.
Dr Jitendra Singh
Abhay Karandikar
