Stefan Mileschin

Nobody was even sure 2D magnets could be made, but two researchers have ended such doubt after dabbling with chromium triiodide and creating just that. Naturally, the materials and science are going right over my head, but the relevance of this feat is the potential for new data-storage devices and designs for future quantum computers. For the time being, 2D magnets will enable physicists to perform previously impossible experiments and test fundamental theories of magnetism. Researchers report the first truly 2D magnet, made of a compound called chromium triiodide, in a paper published on 7 June in Nature. The discovery could eventually lead to new data-storage devices and designs for quantum computers. For now, the 2D magnets will enable physicists to perform previously impossible experiments and test fundamental theories of magnetism. Xu and Jarillo-Herrero worked with chromium triiodide because it's a crystal comprising stacked sheets that can be separated using the "Scotch tape method": a way of making 2D materials by using adhesive tape to peel off ever thinner layers. The scientists were also attracted to the compound because of its magnetic properties.

http://www.hardocp.com/news/2017/06/...ted_2d_magnet/