With the advancement of technology, objects are becoming more compact and precise. The rapid increase in demand for digital devices has spurred the need for integrated circuits that are lightweight, consume ultra-low power and are highly efficient. Incorporating nanoelectronics for developing such devices is a feasible option and researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad, and University of Hyderabad have shown that graphene can be made magnetic with control over its electric field and temperature. The thinnest and the strongest material is known as graphene.
The intrinsic magnetism in the lightweight soft magnetic material was exploited, and occurrence of various magnetic phases was observed and its transitions from one phase to another. A methodology was designed by the team to identify the position of the appeared magnetic phases, moving towards making ‘graphene chip’ a reality in the future. To address the problem of thermal management, a mechanism is required which will harness excess heat generated in the operation of gadgets to induce magnetism. A computational study was performed on pristine free standing single layer zig-zag graphene nanoribbons to examine magnetic properties. Intrinsic magnetism could be induced in nonmagnetic graphene by application of electric field and temperature. This suggests that if one’s laptop is generating heat, a lower electric field could achieve the distinct magnetic phases in nanoribbons. The unusual behavior of magnetism and thermo-electromagnetic effect in graphene which is tunable are definitely a stepping stone towards graphene electronics.
