Tiny graphene-based magnetic devices could lead to much smaller — and way more powerful — processors in the future

The smaller the transistors and logic gates in a processor, the more computing power can be packed into a smaller area. But the physical constraints of silicon mean we are reaching the limits of how small these components can be.

However, a new technique, involving ultrafast switching between spin states in 2D magnets — to represent the switching between the binary states of 1 and 0 — can lead to much denser and more power-efficient components.