Scientists in Spain have created tiny flower-shaped structures that can boost magnetic fields in a very small area.
These microscopic “magnetic flowers,” made from a nickel-iron alloy, could lead to more powerful sensors, better scientific experiments, and lower energy use for magnetic devices.
The research was led by Dr. Anna Palau and her team at the Institut de Ciencia de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB), with help from other scientists in the MetaMagIC project and Dr. Sergio Valencia at BESSY II in Germany.
Under a powerful microscope, these microstructures really do look like tiny flowers, with petals made of magnetic metal strips.
By changing the shape, size, and number of petals, researchers can control how much the magnetic field is enhanced.
Here’s how it works: when an external magnetic field is applied, the shape of the microflower focuses and strengthens the field in its center, much like a magnifying glass focuses light. The result is a much stronger magnetic field in a tiny space, which is useful in many technologies.
This research was published in the journal ACS Nano.
What are magnetic metamaterials?
Dr. Palau explains that metamaterials are man-made materials designed to do special things, like bend light or control heat or magnetism. These new magnetic metamaterials are designed to amplify magnetic fields, which can be extremely helpful in areas like:
- Data storage
- Biomedicine
- Catalysis (speeding up chemical reactions)
- Magnetic sensors
In fact, by using these microflowers, the sensitivity of magnetic sensors could be increased by over 100 times, allowing them to detect much weaker magnetic signals.
The team tested their invention at the XPEEM station at BESSY II, a powerful research facility in Berlin. They placed a tiny cobalt rod in the center of different microflowers and mapped the magnetic fields using advanced imaging tools.
Dr. Valencia says that by changing the petals’ shape and size, they could also control the magnetic properties of the system. This makes the invention highly flexible and customizable for different uses.
Instruments like photoemission electron microscopes (used in advanced materials research) are sensitive to magnetic fields, which usually limits how strong a field scientists can use—typically no more than 25 millitesla (mT).
But with these microflowers, fields of up to five times stronger can be achieved, right where they’re needed—without interfering with the whole system.
This breakthrough opens the door to new experiments and technologies that were not possible before.
