Atomically thin van der Waals magnets are widely seen
as the ultimate compact media for future magnetic data storage and
fast data processing. Controlling the magnetic state of these
materials in real-time, however, has proven difficult. But now, an
international team of researchers led by Delft University of
Technology (TU Delft) has managed to use light in order to change
the anisotropy of a van der Waals antiferromagnet on demand, paving
the way to new, extremely efficient means of data
storage.
