Three's company: New alloy sets magnetism benchmark

The burgeoning field of spintronics leverages electron spins--as opposed to their charge--to enhance solid-state devices like hard drives and cell phone components by prolonging battery life. Spintronic developments, however, are increasingly running up against a barrier known as the Slater-Pauling limit, the maximum for how tightly a material can pack its magnetization. Now, a new thin film is poised to break through this decades-old benchmark.