Magnet sans metal
by rearranging electrons in some organic constituents, chemists have recently produced two new magnets that are lighter, more flexible and easier to make than the common metal variety. These plastic-like magnets can even work at room temperature.
Engineers are now trying to make organic magnets that are cheaper than metal magnets. These magnets would be used for flexible magnetic coatings widely used in industry and high-density magnetic data storage systems. At the same time, scientists have started studying the unusual ability of the material to change its magnetic properties when exposed to light - an attractive feature for high-density optical data storage systems ( Scientific American , Vol 276, No 5).
As organic magnets can now work at room temperature, engineers are speculating various methods to exploit their advantages over metals. Non-metallic magnets work because of the electrons present in them. The