Researchers Preserve Magnetic and Electric Properties in Ultrathin Material for Future Chips

Researchers led by Brown University have reported a way to preserve the electrical and magnetic properties of bismuth ferrite when the material is made extremely thin, addressing a longstanding obstacle to its use in future electronic devices. The findings were published on October 28, 2026, in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Materials.

Bismuth ferrite is a multiferroic: its electric polarization and magnetic order are linked, making it attractive for memory and logic components that might require less energy than conventional approaches. But thinning these materials for integration into chips can destroy the properties that make them useful. This loss is often described as the dead-layer effect.

The researchers combined carefully controlled strain from a crystalline substrate with an additional metallic layer to stabilize the thin film. Measurements and calculations indicated that the engineered structure maintained electric polarization and magnetic order at thicknesses relevant to nanoscale devices. The team also reported signatures of altermagnetism, a magnetic state that could offer advantages for densely packed and fast-switching components.

The results demonstrate a materials-fabrication approach rather than a finished commercial processor. The researchers have not shown that the films reduce the electricity consumption of deployed AI systems, nor established manufacturing yields for mass-produced chips. Further device-level testing and integration work would be needed before any commercial application.

The study provides experimental evidence that a material previously limited by its thickness can retain useful behavior at much smaller scales. It could inform research into nonvolatile memory and other energy-efficient electronic components.