Overview

• Published in Nature on June 25, researchers at ANU and the University of Manchester demonstrated a single-molecule magnet that retains data at 100 Kelvin.
• The molecule features a dysprosium atom sandwiched between two nitrogen atoms, stabilized by a chemical “molecular pin” to maintain a straight-line configuration.
• Drives built from these magnets could pack around three terabytes into a postage-stamp-sized area, roughly half a million TikTok videos.
• Operating above liquid nitrogen temperatures, the magnet’s 100 K threshold suggests practical application in cooled data centers rather than consumer electronics.
• Scientists caution that adapting the technology for everyday devices will require further work to raise operating temperatures and refine hardware designs.