Spintronics-Info: the spintronics experts

Spintronics-Info is a news hub and knowledge center born out of keen interest in spintronic technologies.

Spintronics is the new science of computers and memory chips that are based on electron spin rather than (or in addition to) the charge (used in electronics). Spintronics is an exciting field that holds promise to build faster and more efficient computers and other devices.

Recent Spintronic News

Researchers report room-temperature macroscopic ferromagnetism in multilayered graphene oxide

Zhengzhou University researchers have synthesized a new material that combines graphene's remarkable properties with a strong response to magnetic fields. 

Graphene has a long spin lifetime and hyperfine interactions, making it potentially favorable for spintronics applications. Despite the recent discoveries of spin-containing graphene materials, graphene-based materials with room-temperature macroscopic ferromagnetism are extremely rare. In their recent study, room-temperature ferromagnetic amorphous graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by introducing abundant oxygen-containing functional groups and C defects into single-layered graphene, followed by a self-assembly process under supercritical CO2 (SC CO2). 

Read the full story Posted: Mar 18,2024

Researchers use printed polymer to explore chirality and spin interactions at room temperature

Researchers at North Carolina State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Duke University and Sivananthan Laboratories have relied on a printable organic polymer, that assembles into chiral structures when printed, to reliably measure the amount of charge produced in spin-to-charge conversion within a spintronic material at room temperature. 

The polymer’s tunable qualities and versatility make it desirable not only for less expensive, environmentally friendly, printable electronic applications, but also for use in understanding chirality and spin interactions more generally.

Read the full story Posted: Mar 17,2024

New EU-funded project applies spintronics to the field of artificial intelligence

A new project called MultiSpin.AI was launched in February 2024 and will go on for a period of three years. The project has secured funding totaling more than three million euros from the EIC Pathfinder funding program.

MultiSpin.AI proposes to apply spintronics to the field of artificial intelligence. Processing units will be developed for electrical circuits based on magnetic tunnel junctions. This is a quantum phenomenon that allows electrons to behave in ways not foreseen in classical physics, being able to cross obstacles that, under ‘usual’ conditions, they would not have enough energy to overcome.

Read the full story Posted: Mar 14,2024

Researchers develop model for high-performance spin-wave reservoir computing

Researchers from Tohoku University have developed a theoretical model for high-performance spin wave reservoir computing (RC) that utilizes spintronics technology. This achievement could push scientists closer to realizing energy-efficient, nanoscale computing with unparalleled computational power.

Scientists are constantly striving to create neuromorphic devices that mimic the brain's processing capabilities, low power consumption, and its ability to adapt to neural networks. The development of neuromorphic computing is revolutionary, allowing scientists to explore nanoscale realms, GHz speed, with low energy consumption. In recent years, many advances in computational models inspired by the brain have been made. These artificial neural networks have demonstrated extraordinary performances in various tasks. However, current technologies are software-based; their computational speed, size, and energy consumption remain constrained by the properties of conventional electric computers.

Read the full story Posted: Mar 07,2024

New EU project called 2DSPIN-TECH aims to develop spintronics-based memory devices based on 2D quantum materials

The EU project 2DSPIN-TECH aims to pave the way for significantly faster and more energy-efficient computer memories. Last week, the project kickoff event took place, with seven partners and €4 million in funding. The project spans three years and is conducted within the framework of the EU’s Graphene Flagship, a multibillion-dollar initiative launched over a decade ago to stimulate research and innovation in graphene and other two-dimensional materials.

“Our ambition is to create novel spintronic memory devices based on two-dimensional quantum materials, significantly reducing energy consumption, promoting sustainability, and enhancing the overall performance of computer memories. This is crucial for the future of information technology,” says Saroj Dash, Professor of quantum component physics at Chalmers University of Technology and coordinator of 2DSPIN-TECH.

Read the full story Posted: Mar 03,2024

Researchers manage to realize merons in synthetic antiferromagnets

One way of processing information in spintronics is to use the magnetic vortices called skyrmions or, alternatively, their still little understood and rarer cousins called 'merons'. Both are collective topological structures formed of numerous individual spins. Merons have to date only been observed in natural antiferromagnets, where they are difficult to both analyze and manipulate.

Working in collaboration with teams at Tohoku University in Japan and the ALBA Synchrotron Light Facility in Spain, researchers of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have been the first to demonstrate the presence of merons in synthetic antiferromagnets and thus in materials that can be produced using standard deposition techniques.

Read the full story Posted: Feb 28,2024

Researchers examine black phosphorus’ potential for spintronics applications

Researchers at Newcastle University, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Japan's National Institute for Materials Science have reported a significant discovery in the field of spintronics based on the unique properties of an ultrathin, two-dimensional material called black phosphorus and how it transports spinning electrons.

Spintronics utilizes the intrinsic spin of electrons to create more energy-efficient devices. Electrons have a spin state of “up” or “down” causing the electrons to act like tiny magnets and manipulating this state has been seen by researchers as crucial for achieving lower power operation in electronic devices. This is because the spin motion of electrons inherently dissipates far less heat than the movement of electrical charge used in traditional electronics. Whilst the phenomenon of spin itself has been widely studied, the challenge has been finding a material with the optimal properties for creating the channels that transport spins.

Read the full story Posted: Feb 24,2024

Researchers show that the magnetic state of antferromagnets can be switched using surface induced strain

Researchers at the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Vienna Technical University (TU Wien), Charles University, Malvern Panalytical B.V., Nuclear Physics Institute CAS and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) recently made an important step that could advance the field of spintronics: they managed to switch the spins in an antiferromagnetic material using surface strain. 

"There are different types of magnetism," explains Sergii Khmelevskyi from the Vienna Scientific Cluster Research Center, Vienna Technical University. "The best known is ferromagnetism. It occurs when the atomic spins in a material are all aligned in parallel. But there is also the opposite, antiferromagnetism. In an antiferromagnetic material, neighboring atoms always have opposite spins." Their effects therefore cancel each other out and no magnetic force can be detected from the outside.

Read the full story Posted: Feb 21,2024

Researchers report a new type of magnetism called altermagnetism

Researchers have conducted experiments at the Swiss Light Source SLS that resulted in proof of the existence of a new type of magnetism: altermagnetism. The experimental discovery of this new branch of magnetism could signify new fundamental physics, with major implications for spintronics.

Since the discovery of antiferromagnets nearly a century ago, the family of magnetic materials has been divided into two fundamental phases: the ferromagnetic branch known for several millennia and the antiferromagnetic branch. The experimental proof of a third branch of magnetism, termed altermagnetism, was made by an international collaboration led by the Czech Academy of Sciences together with Paul Scherrer Institute PSI. The fundamental magnetic phases are defined by the specific spontaneous arrangements of magnetic moments—or electron spins—and of atoms that carry the moments in crystals.

Read the full story Posted: Feb 16,2024