Magneto-ionic control of magnetism through voltage-driven carbon transport
Control of magnetism through voltage-driven ionic processes (i.e., magneto-ionics) holds potential for next-generation memories and computing. This stems from its non-volatility, flexibility in adjusting the magnitude and speed of magnetic modulation, and energy efficiency. Since magneto-ionics depends on factors like ionic radius and electronegativity, identifying alternative mobile ions is crucial to embrace new phenomena and applications. Here, the feasibility of C as a prospective magneto-ionic ion is investigated in a Fe-C system by electrolyte gating. In contrast to most magneto-ionic systems, Fe-C presents a reversible dual-ion mechanism: Fe and C act as cation and anion, respectively, moving uniformly in opposite directions under an applied electric field. This leads to a significant increase in saturation magnetization ( > 5-fold) with magneto-ionic rates larger than 1 emu·cm<sup>-3</sup>·s<sup>-1</sup>, and a 25-fold increase in coercivity. Since carbides exhibit minimal cytotoxicity, this introduces a biocompatible dimension to magneto-ionics, paving the way for the convergence of spintronics and biotechnology.
Authors
- Fatima Ibrahim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7374-6001)
- Emanuele Longo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8538-571X)
- J. Nogués (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4616-1371)
- Huan Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5579-2127)
- Enric Menéndez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3809-2863)
- Ferran Macià (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5972-4810)
- Javier Herrero‐Martín (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1986-8128)
- Eva Pellicer
- Jordi Sort
- Zheng Ma
- A. Quintana
- F. Sánchez
- M. Rovirola
- X. Z. Chen
- M. O. Liedke
- I. Fina
- A. Arredondo-López
- J. L. Costa-Krämer
- Z. Tan
- Y. F. Mei
- A. Garcia-Tort
- A. Wagner
- S. Privitera
- M. Chshiev
- E. Hirschmann
- A. F. Lopeandia
Institutions
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Institut Universitaire de France (FR)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- ALBA Synchrotron (Spain) (ES)
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (DE)
- CEA Grenoble (FR)
- Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ES)
- Integrated Optoelectronics (Norway) (NO)
- Institute of Micro and Nanotechnology (ES)
- San’an Optoelectronics (China) (CN)
- Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ES)
- Spintronique et Technologie des Composants (FR)
- Yiwu Science and Technology Research Institute (CN)
- Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia de la Universitat de Barcelona
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2026-01-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68283-w
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- European Commission
- Generalitat de Catalunya