Smartphones could become far more powerful, compact, and energy-efficient, thanks to major breakthrough

A UCLA research team has unveiled a new method for combining magnetic elements with semiconductors, overcoming a decades-old barrier in materials science and opening the door to a new class of electronics.

The breakthrough is a foundational step for spintronics, a technology that operates based on an electron's spin rather than its charge. Unlike conventional electronics, spintronic components do not produce the excess heat that currently limits the compactness of chips.

This new development could lead to future devices, from smartphones to computers, that are more powerful, compact, and energy-efficient. The new technique involves alternately stacking atomically thin sheets of semiconductors and magnetic atoms, which allows for a magnetic concentration of up to 50% — a massive leap from the previous 5% limit.

This new class of materials could also help solve one of the biggest challenges of the modern era — the massive energy and water consumption of artificial intelligence systems. Future computers deploying spintronics should be able to host more powerful AI applications without the significant carbon footprint and drain on vital resources.

Furthermore, the research could provide foundational materials for future quantum computers. The new magnetic materials could help raise the operating temperatures of quantum computers from the freezing conditions required today to more practical levels. The UCLA team has already created more than 20 new materials with this novel process, and a patent application has been filed for the technology.

If this technology makes it to consumer devices, there will be a rise of an ultra-fast new generation of laptops and smartphones. In the meantime, high performant phones like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (curr. $1,105 on Amazon) are serving the needs of today.