New York, March 25 (IANS): Data storage capacity of computer hard drives could go up significantly as scientists have now discovered a new magnetic material that can change its magnetism with a tiny shift in temperature.

The yet unnamed material is called 'magnetic-oxide hybrid' by its discoverer Ivan Schuller of University of California, San Diego.

The material consists of a thin layer of nickel, which is magnetic and extremely sensitive to heat, and another layer of vanadium oxide, whose properties change with temperature.

"By putting together an oxide and a magnetic material, we created an artificial material, which has unique magnetic properties," Schuller was quoted as saying.

The new material dramatically changes its coercivity (resistance of a magnetic material to changes in magnetisation) in an interval of just 10 degrees temperature change, said Schuller.

This eliminates the need to heat it to a high temperature to re-magnetise it, he said.

This material could also be used in electrical networks such as transformers, the study said.

The research appeared in the journal Applied Physics Letters.