So-called "zero-point energy" is a term familiar to some cinema lovers or series fans; in the fictional world of animated films such as "The Incredibles" or the TV series "Stargate Atlantis",it denotes a powerful and virtually inexhaustible energy source. Whether it could ever be used as such is arguable. Scientists at Jülich contain now found out that it plays an considerable role in the stability of nanomagnets. These are of great technical interest for the magnetic storage of data, but so far contain never been sufficiently steady. Researchers are now pointing the way to making it possible to produce nanomagnets with low zero-point energy and thus a higher degree of stability (Nano Letters, or DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b01344).
Source: phys.org