A team of scientists from the University of Virginia discovered a "magnetic superatom" - a stable cluster of atoms capable of mimicking various elements of the periodic table
A team of scientists from the University of Virginia discovered a "magnetic superatom" - a stable cluster of atoms capable of mimicking various elements of the periodic table - and which may be used in the future to develop electronic devices for the next generation of faster computers with higher memory capacity.
The newly discovered compound, consisting of one atom of vanadium and eight atoms of cesium, behaves like a tiny magnet capable of imitating the magnetic force of a single manganese atom while allowing electrons with a certain spin direction to flow through the layer of cesium atoms. The findings were published online in the scientific journal Nature Chemistry.
Thanks to extensive collaborations with other researchers, the scientist Shiv N. Khanna, a professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Virginia in the USA, examined the electronic and magnetic properties of clusters consisting of a single atom of vanadium surrounded by a variable number of cesium atoms.
The researchers found that when there are eight cesium atoms in the cluster, a very stable structure is obtained thanks to a full electronic state - the shape of an atom is stable when its outermost layer is full of electrons. As a result, when an atom bonds with another atom, it tends to give or receive valence electrons in order to reach a stable state.
According to the lead researcher, the cluster has a magnetic momentum of five Bohr-magnetons, which is twice the value of an iron atom in a solid iron magnet. Magnetic momentum is a measure of the internal magnetism of the saber. The manganese atom also has a similar magnetic momentum and an outer layer full of electrons, which are more strongly bound, and the researcher explains that the new aggregate can be considered a close imitation of the manganese atom.
"An important goal of the research was to find what is the combination of atoms that will lead to chemical forms that are stable after joining together several different units. Obtaining properties of magnetism and electrical conduction were also part of our goals. "Cesium is an efficient conductor of electricity and therefore the saber combines the advantage of its magnetic nature together with the ease of conduction through the outer layer," explains the researcher.
"A joint as we received may lead to important developments in the field of molecular electronics, a research area where scientists study the electrical conduction of small particles. The researchers anticipate that such molecular devices will help in stable information storage, in more compact facilities, in more efficient information processing processes and have additional advantages," says the researcher.
The researchers performed initial tests of cells consisting of two such aggregates and received several very promising observations that could advance the field of spintronics - a process in which electronic spin is used to prepare state-of-the-art devices for processing and storing information.
The researchers also suggested that a combination of gold atoms and manganese atoms could lead to another such aggregate, which, although it has magnetism, lacks the ability to conduct electricity. These aggregates could have possible biomedical applications such as sensing, imaging and drug delivery.
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Hello to all commenters.
In a scientific translation from English to Hebrew, an effort was made on my part to use the most standard Hebrew alternatives. In many cases these alternatives are found in the dictionaries published by the Academy of the Hebrew Language.
As an example of our case - angular momentum is the standard translation of the physical concept angular momentum (Dictionary of Physics: Mechanics (1973), XNUMX). From this we learn that the most standard translation corresponds to momentum.
Momentum is a mathematical concept, sometimes somewhat vague, that is used in different contexts, many times in physics but also in probability and other fields. Usually its meaning is a product of the distance by some quantity that depends on the distance. For example, a force moment is a vector product of the arm (distance from the axis of rotation) and the force acting on the body through this arm. Another example - moment of inertia (or in Hebrew constant moment) is the product of distance squared and mass (in terms of mathematics, this is a second-order moment).
On the other hand, momentum in Hebrew is Taneh, meaning the product of mass and speed. The connection of this to the concept of torque is mainly for historical reasons, and one should not try to interpret it too literally. The Hebrew translation is actually more successful than the original concept because it emphasizes the fact that it is a measure of movement.
Another important concept is Angular momentum - the product of the moment of inertia and the angular velocity. In fact, its formal definition is the product of the arm in momentum, so historically it was called Moment of momentum. It just goes to show how confusing the names of the two concepts can be. Fortunately, the accepted translation of the term into Hebrew is angular momentum, a translation that cuts the Gordian connection of the two confusing words moment and momentum and concentrates on what is really important - it is a quantity analogous to momentum but in the context of circular (angular) motion. This translation frees the average Hebrew speaker from unnecessary philosophical musings about the relationship of angular momentum to the obscure concept of torque.
But the business got complicated with the discovery of the magnetic property magnetic momentum, so called because in quantum mechanics there is a similarity between certain mathematical properties of it and properties of Angular momentum. But these properties are not exactly related to the mathematical properties of the original classical concept of torque. Since the Hebrew has already abandoned the vague concept of torque in the context of angular momentum, it is clear that there is no point in returning it to use specifically in the context of magnetic momentum which has already moved very far from the original concept. In light of all this, there is quite a bit of logic in Dr. Nachmani's translation - magnetic momentum.
But in contrast, many others nowadays have decided (whether consciously or unconsciously) that the many changes in our understanding of these concepts have succeeded in confusing the connection between the original concepts and their translations. In light of this, they raised their hands and began to translate the English concepts word for word into Hebrew. And so magnetic momentum becomes magnetic moment. This approach is in line with the general translation trend these days, which does not translate "Telephone" into "long-distance", but keeps the English (and in fact international) form.
My conclusion from all this - you should not try to understand physics based only on the names of the concepts.
In the original article the expression is "magnetic moment".
Apparently the two translations do not match. As far as I remember, and this without checking in a physics book, momentum is a parameter that is a product of speed and mass (therefore it exists in a body in motion) and torque is a product of distance (the length of the lever arm) and force.
Moment in Hebrew is not "permanence"?
"Magnetic momentum" should have been translated as "magnetic torque". Torque is not translated as momentum ("torque" should be distinguished from "momentum")