A Surprising Discovery: Magnetism in a Common Material for Microelectronics
Department of Energy, Office of ScienceNickel monosilicide (NiSi), a material widely used to connect transistors in semiconductor circuits, was wrongly predicted by theory to be non-magnetic. Now scientists have used neutron scattering to identify an elusive form of magnetic order in NiSi. This finding could lead to improved semiconductors for computers and computer memory.