Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas and Harvard University have discovered a repeating, twisted chiral superlattice structure in uranium oxytelluride that combines ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic properties, offering a way to build faster computer memory devices that resist external magnetic field disruptions, as reported by The Quantum Insider.
High-Resolution Microscopy Reveals Chiral Superlattices in Uranium Oxytelluride
Dr. Mengke Liu, an assistant professor of physics at UT Dallas, originally examined crystals of the uranium compound for an entirely different reason. While working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Quantum Initiative in Science and Engineering before joining the UT Dallas faculty in 2025, Liu received the synthesized crystals from collaborator Dr. Sheng Ran, an associate professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis.
Using transmission electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy to image atomic-scale surfaces, Liu detected a previously unrecognized repeating, twisted structural pattern. This chiral superlattice spirals predominantly in a left-handed or right-handed direction. “I was originally studying this material for an entirely different reason,” Liu stated. “When I examined it with high-resolution microscopy, I found a naturally occurring superstructure no one had recognized before.”
Simultaneously, a Harvard research team led by co-corresponding author Dr. Suyang Xu investigated the same material.
Dual Magnetic Properties and Implications for Computer Memory
The structural pattern gives uranium oxytelluride a rare combination of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic characteristics. Ferromagnetic materials exhibit net magnetization, whereas antiferromagnetic materials have a net magnetization of zero, rendering them naturally more resistant to perturbations from external magnetic fields.
Antiferromagnets can operate more quickly than conventional ferromagnets. “If those advantages can be harnessed, memory devices could potentially become both faster and more robust,” Liu explained regarding the combined traits.
Computational analyses conducted during the study suggest that hundreds of related compounds could host similar superlattice structures. “This study provides a new way of looking for materials with these unusual properties,” Liu noted. “Instead of focusing only on the fundamental atomic arrangement, we can also now explore larger superstructures that might influence how electrons behave.”
Modern Experimental Tools Revive Decades-Old Materials
Uranium oxytelluride has been documented since the 1960s but remained largely ignored in contemporary research until recently. The discovery shows the value of reexamining older compounds with advanced modern instrumentation.
“Uranium oxytelluride has been known since the 1960s, but it has been largely ignored in research since then,” Liu observed. “Now, with today’s techniques, we’re able to uncover and study properties that previously were hidden.”
Funding for the project was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Army Research Office.
