Aiming to establish new spintronics

[Keio Spintronics Network - Nitta Laboratory , Tohoku University]

School of Engineering, University:Aiming to establish new spintronics

Current semiconductor technology has advanced by making things smaller. But its clear that progress in the electronics supported by smaller devices will reach a limit in the near future, in line with Moores law.

At Tohoku Universitys Nitta Laboratory, researchers are working to solve this problem by focusing on electron spin. They aim to develop entirely new methods of controlling electron spin.

This field of electronics using spin, called spintronics, is very topical right now.

Q
In our Lab, were looking for new functionalities based on electron spins, which have so far been controlled using magnetic fields. If we can control spins using electric fields, we can develop new horizons of electronics using electron spins. Thats the goal of this research.

In conventional electronics, information is processed by using the on and off states of current flow as 1 and 0 in calculations. To do these calculations in spintronics, the electrons spin direction can be treated as information. So information can be processed using just the number of spins in each direction.

However, controlling the direction of spin at the electron level is considered very difficult. So far, no clear method for such control has been found.

Therefore, instead of controlling spin using magnetic fields, as has been done so far, the Nitta Lab is experimenting with the use of electric fields. The researchers generate an electric field using a tiny voltage, and see if the field can be used to control the direction of spin.

Q
We fabricate extremely small semiconductor devices, using epitaxial growth at the nanoscale. Then we use microfabrication techniques, and create a third electrode for whats called the gate electrode.
So we add this gate electrode, and apply a voltage to it. By doing this, weve confirmed experimentally, for the first time worldwide, that the spin-orbit interaction in the semiconductor changes with the voltage. What this means is: the effective magnetic field felt by spins in the semiconductor can be freely controlled by the gate voltage.


Controlling electron spin using an electric field instead of a magnetic field has various advantages in the world of spintronics.

A large amount of power is needed to generate a magnetic field, and the field is also generated in many directions. But with control using an electric field, the interaction with spin is local, and consumes less power. So this control method should open the way to new applications for spintronics.

Q
So far, spin has been used in various types of memory and sensors. But to advance its applications further, I think we need to develop logic using spin.
We think that using an electric field instead of a magnetic field will enable devices to work in a very small space at very high speed, and with low power consumption.
The ultimate application would be devices like quantum computers, where a lot of information is stored in individual spins. By controlling this information and reading it out, wed like to create the ultimate computer.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Tohoku
• University
• Nano
• Spin
• Giant
• Magnetoresistance
• GMR
• Moores
• law
• spintronics

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good job..more powers!

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i'm doing my masters in nano science too.