The Ames Laboratory will use a $530,000 donation from a Muscatine-based charity to establish a magnetic thin-film and magnetoelectric-device research laboratory.

The grant was given to Iowa State and Ames Laboratory by the Roy J. Carver Trust, which has given more than $13.5 million to Iowa State in the last 12 years. Researchers David Jiles, professor of materials science and engineering, and John Snyder, associate scientist, will use the grant primarily to research new magnetic storage for computers using an ion-beam deposition system. The thin-film materials will be used to increase computer data-storage capacities.

Jiles said magnetoelectronics is a “very hot area” to investigate, and the market is open to researchers with this technology.

“We’ve all got computers, and we all want to be able to store more and more data on them,” he said. “Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University need to get into this area because there’s a huge market for this cutting-edge technology.”

The ISU Foundation manages donations and gifts given to the university, and ISU Foundation Director Tom Mitchell said the Roy J. Carver Trust is a major donor to Iowa State for educational initiatives and scientific research.

The goals of the ISU Foundation vary from year to year depending upon the needs identified by the university. However, the main goals are usually to strengthen areas as it relates to endowed chairs, professorships, fellowships and scholarships.

“The Carver Trust has been a leader not only in Iowa, but also in surrounding states in regard to philanthropic support, particularly in the area of higher education,” Mitchell said.