Antiferromagnets are considered “invisible” magnets: unlike familiar everyday magnets, they do not produce a measurable external magnetic field. For a long time, this made them difficult to control. In condensed-matter physics and materials research, however, they have recently gained strong momentum — because they could not only significantly accelerate data processing but also reduce energy demand. Given growing data volumes and the electricity consumption of digital infrastructure, this could be an important step toward more environmentally friendly electronics and telecommunications. 

To tap into this potential, a three-year bilateral research consortium involving two Japanese and three German groups will start in February. The collaboration is supported through funding provided by the respective governments—via the German Research Foundation (DFG) in Germany and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) in Japan. The network is coordinated by Prof. Dr. István Kézsmárki at the University of Augsburg. Participating researchers include Prof. Davide Bossini (University of Konstanz), Prof. Tsuyoshi Kimura (University of Tokyo), Prof. Johannes Knolle (Technical University of Munich, TUM), Dr. Naoki Ogawa (RIKEN, Japan’s major research institute for the natural sciences) and Prof. Yoshinori Tokura (RIKEN). 

Internet based on light – and new building blocks for the next generation 

“Antiferromagnets could help us build much faster and more energy-efficient technologies,” says TUM School of Natural Sciences Prof. Knolle. “What I find most exciting about this collaboration is how we can combine new theoretical ideas with cutting-edge experiments to turn these exotic quantum materials into real-world innovations.” 

Optical communication is part of everyday life: a large part of the internet relies on fiber optics, where data is transmitted as light signals. This is exactly where the consortium comes in. In the future, antiferromagnets could change key functions of the underlying technology — from storing to processing information — and thus provide a building block for a new generation of optical communication and information technology. 

Reading and writing with light – up to 1,000 times faster 

At the core is the question of how antiferromagnetic states can be controlled particularly fast and in a targeted manner. Light has proven to be a promising tool here: in earlier work, the participating researchers identified material systems in which the coupling between light and antiferromagnets is surprisingly strong — and demonstrated that antiferromagnetic states can be made optically visible. Building on this, the consortium aims to manipulate antiferromagnets ultrafast using intense light pulses on time scales of around one trillionth of a second. Compared to established ferromagnetic storage technologies, this approach offers the chance to increase processing speed by a factor of 1,000. 

A concrete objective of the project is to identify new antiferromagnetic materials that can be switched ultrafast by light and/or mechanical strain. In a next step, new device functionalities are to be derived from these materials and demonstrated experimentally — as a basis for future applications. 

Augsburg as a bridge within the collaborative network 

The University of Augsburg coordinates the Japanese-German consortium and connects the partner groups in Germany and Japan. “We pool the strengths of the teams and ensure that the collaboration runs smoothly,” says Prof. Dr. István Kézsmárki. His experience in Japan is particularly helpful: he has conducted research in Japan himself and knows many local structures and contacts through direct collaboration. The fact that scientific ties have already existed within the consortium for years further facilitates the start of the joint programme. 

At the same time, Prof. Dr. István Kézsmárki is spokesperson for the DFG Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio 360 “Constrained Quantum Matter” (jointly proposed with the Technical University of Munich). In this consortium, teams in Germany investigate new quantum states and complex quantum materials — fundamentals that can enable long-term applications, for example, in quantum information technology. This expertise from the University of Augsburg also strengthens the international collaboration in the new Japanese-German consortium. 

Strengthened by a young researcher from Augsburg 

The collaboration receives additional momentum from Dr. Felix Schilberth, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Augsburg. Schilberth was recently awarded a highly competitive postdoctoral fellowship at the Japanese research institute RIKEN and will soon advance nonlinear spectroscopic investigations of magnetic materials there in the Ogawa-Tokura group — an important pillar of the consortium. 

tb  

Scientific Contact 
Prof. Johannes Knolle
Theory of Quantum Matter research group
j.knolle@tum.de
+498928953740 

Press Contact
communications@nat.tum.de
Team website 

Original article: https://www.uni-augsburg.de/de/campusleben/neuigkeiten/2026/03/10/unsichtbare-magnete-fur-schnellere-it/