Imagine a laptop that remains cool, a phone capable of lasting for days on a single charge, or a memory chip engineered to retain data permanently even during power loss. At the center of these advances is a remarkable class of materials that researchers from the University of Ottawa and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have spent years studying. Their work has culminated in a comprehensive roadmap that summarizes the field to date. The study was published in Newton.
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In contemporary physics, magnetic topological materials sit at the intersection of topology and magnetism. Topology is the mathematical study of shapes and structures that cannot be continuously deformed into one another. In these materials, that principle protects the flow of electrons in ways conventional materials cannot replicate.
Magnetic topological materials offer a unique platform where magnetism and quantum physics work together in ways we are only beginning to fully understand. This review brings together the field's most significant advances and gives researchers a shared foundation to build on.
Hang Chi, Canada Research Chair in Quantum Electronic Devices and Circuits and Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, University of Ottawa
The comprehensive analysis of more than two decades of research from around the world now offers the scientific community a uniform starting point.
The four primary families of these materials were described by Professor Chi and his co-authors, Dr. Peng Chen and Professor Jagadeesh S. Moodera of MIT, along with the intriguing quantum phenomena they generate and the areas with the most potential for practical technology.
The "quantum anomalous Hall effect," which occurs when electrical current travels along a material's edges with almost no energy loss in the absence of an external magnetic field, is one of the most remarkable of those events. The field has been striving for years to reach that level of dependability and efficiency.
What excites us most is how these materials can enable electrical current or voltage-induced magnetization switching with efficiencies that exceed conventional metals by orders of magnitude. That translates directly into devices that are faster, smaller, and dramatically more energy-efficient than what we have today.
Hang Chi, Canada Research Chair in Quantum Electronic Devices and Circuits and Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, University of Ottawa
The One Problem Scientists Still Need to Solve
As of right now, these effects only become apparent when the materials are chilled to temperatures that are barely a few degrees above absolute zero. The largest issue in the sector is getting these materials to function at room temperature.
The study identifies three specific avenues for future research: finding completely new families of magnetic topological materials that have not yet been discovered, engineering novel material combinations in thin layered structures, and quickly screening thousands of candidate materials using powerful computers and artificial intelligence.
We are not there yet, but we now have a much clearer roadmap. By combining advances in material synthesis, computational screening, and machine learning, we believe room-temperature magnetic topological devices are within reach.
Hang Chi, Canada Research Chair in Quantum Electronic Devices and Circuits and Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, University of Ottawa
The ability to build faster computers and electronic devices is approaching fundamental physical limits. As chips become increasingly compact, heat has emerged as one of the biggest obstacles to improving performance. The materials explored in this study offer a fundamentally different way to transfer and store information, potentially enabling devices that are faster, cooler, and far more energy-efficient.
These materials do not simply offer incremental improvements. Beyond computing, they are already showing early potential in artificial intelligence hardware, physical circuits designed to process information differently from conventional computing systems, in ways that more closely resemble the human brain. That matters in a world where AI data centers are consuming electricity at a rapidly growing and increasingly concerning rate .
Journal Reference:
Chen, P., et al. (2026). Progress and prospects of magnetic topological materials for spintronic applications. Newton. DOI: 10.1016/j.newton.2026.100436. https://www.cell.com/newton/fulltext/S2950-6360(26)00038-1?_returnURL=.