We talk about magnetism and electricity a lot as the two are linked together in many ways — from power lines generating a magnetic field to how magnets are used to generate electricity  (refresh your memory here). Even though it’s a common occurrence for these two to be linked, it’s not uncomplicated as electrical and magnetic properties of certain materials are also coupled with each other. Meaning, the electrical properties can be influenced by a magnetic field and vice versa.  This coupling/magnetoelectric effect can be observed in some crystals, though, the structure of the crystals affect its ability to have a magnetoelectric effect. Take for instance the crystal lagasite — made of lanthanum, gallium, silicon and oxygen, plus holmium atoms. Langasite has a symmetrical structure, which normally would make a link between magnetism and electricity nonexistent. A new study though, published in Nature.com, has shown not only a link, but it created an effect that’s never been seen before.  Symmetry and Magnetoelectric Effect As lead physicist Andrei Pimenov, from the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) in Austria says, "If the crystal has a high degree of symmetry, for example, if one side of the crystal is exactly the mirror image of the other side, then for theoretical reasons, there can be no magnetoelectric effect."  What they found is that when the magnetic field is increased, the holmium atoms change their quantum state, breaking the internal symmetry causing it to gain a magnetic moment. ?Though, it’s important to note the symmetry was retained in a purely geometric sense. This break has been easily demonstrated via an electric field with other cyrstals, but in this case of using langasite, it’s been done with a magnetic field as well.  What This Could Mean This relationship between polarisation and the direction of the magnetic field within the langasite wasn’t normal; it was strongly non-linear, meaning the strength of the magnetic field doesn’t have a linear effect on electrical polarization.  What they found though is there’s a relationship between polarization and the direction of the magnetic field — if you change the direction of the magnetic field, the polarization can completely transform. This study showed that a small change in the rotation of the magnetic field (the direction) may be able to create a big change in the electrical polarisation effect. This is important for the continuing progress of nanoelectronics because electric control of magnetism can significantly reduce power consumption of magnetic memory and data processing devices. As Pimenov says, “If there were a direct way to switch the magnetic properties of a solid-state memory with an electric field, this would be a breakthrough.”  Keep Up to Date With Apex Magnets The next step will be to see if this effect can work in the opposite direction as well — meaning, the magnetic properties being changed with an electrical field. To stay up-to-date on the latest magnetic discoveries and news, make sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.