Magnetic-memory devices rely on fast switching of the magnetization vector in a material to store data. The speed of such devices could be increased by adding a magnetic-pulse-shapinq technique. The demand for speed in data processing must be matched by the fast response of memory devices. One promisingpath is the realization of magnetic random access memory (MRAM): a logical bit is stored in a unit cell of magnetic material by setting the orientation of the magnetization vector inside the cell in one of two possible directions, coding the logical values '0' and '1'. To write data, an external magnetic field is applied to reverse the magnetization, flipping the bit between '0' and '1'. But the speed, and the reliability, with which bits can be set is still limited. However, on page 509 of this issue, Gerrits et al. report a new approach by which ultrafast magnetization reversal can be achieved.
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