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Spintronics News:


Appelbaum discusses spintronics research

Article description

An interesting interview by ITNews with Appelbaum, who just won a 480K$ grant for spintronics research. He discusses his spintronics research, the future of spintronics devices and more.

Link to article (ITNews) 


NVE Corporation Reports 4Q Results

Total revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 increased 33% to $6.05 million from $4.57 million in the prior-year quarter. The revenue increase was primarily due to a 35% increase in product sales to $5.67 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 from $4.19 million in the prior-year quarter. Net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 increased 45% to $2.25 million, or $0.47 per diluted share, compared to $1.55 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, for the prior-year quarter. Gross margin was 69% of revenue, operating margin 55%, pretax margin 59%, and net margin 37% for the quarter.

Appelbaum wins DEPSCoR grant for spintronics research

Ian Appelbaum, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Delaware, has received a $484,370 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) for a major study on spintronics.

The DEPSCoR grant will enable Appelbaum and his team to explore the use of spin transport in the semiconductor silicon to enhance the speed and design of integrated circuits for spintronics.

Read more here (uDaily)

Chromium's Hidden Magnetic Talents Discovered

Two Dartmouth researchers have determined that the element chromium displays electrical properties of magnets in surprising ways. This finding can be used in the emerging field of "spintronics," which might someday contribute to new and more energy efficient ways of processing and storing data.

"The phenomena that we have discovered are likely to lead to new applications of chromium," says Yeong-Ah Soh, the lead researcher on the paper and an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth. She worked on the study with Ravi Kummamuru, a former post-doctoral research associate at Dartmouth now at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne.


IBM shows New racetrack memory technology

In two papers published in the April 11 issue of Science, IBM Fellow Stuart Parkin and colleagues at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose describe both the fundamentals of a technology dubbed "racetrack" memory as well as a milestone in that technology. This milestone could lead to electronic devices capable of storing far more data in the same amount of space than is possible today, with lightning-fast boot times, far lower cost and unprecedented stability and durability.

Within the next ten years, racetrack memory, so named because the data "races" around the wire "track," could lead to solid state electronic devices - with no moving parts, and therefore more durable - capable of holding far more data in the same amount of space than is possible today. For example, this technology could enable a handheld device such as an mp3 player to store around 500,000 songs or around 3,500 movies - 100 times more than is possible today - with far lower cost and power consumption. The devices would not only store vastly more information in the same space, but also require much less power and generate much less heat, and be practically unbreakable; the result: massive amounts of personal storage that could run on a single battery for weeks at a time and last for decades.


NVE Notified of Patent Grant for Superparamagnetic Devices

NVE Corporation has been notified by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of the expected grant today of patent number 7,355,822, titled "Superparamagnetic Devices" and assigned to NVE.
 
Superparamagnetism is the magnetic state of a material between highly ordered parallel spins (ferromagnetism) and randomly ordered spins (paramagnetism). The superparamagnetic effect occurs in ferromagnetic structures smaller than a critical value or at temperatures higher than a critical temperature.

Graphene Holds Promise For Spintronics

Graphene is a nanomaterial combining very simple atomic structure with intriguingly complex and largely unexplored physics. Since its first isolation about four years ago researchers suggested a large number of applications for this material in anticipation of future technological revolutions. In particular, graphene is considered as a potential candidate for replacing silicon in future electronic devices.

Theoretical physicists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and Radboud University of Nijmegen (The Netherlands) performed a virtual crash-test of graphene as a material for future spintronic devices, possible components of future computers. The material successfully passed the test, although, with some reservations.


NVE Corporation Reports 3Q results, no MRAM news

Product sales for the quarter increased 25% over the prior-year quarter to $4.25 million from $3.40 million. Total revenue, consisting of product sales and contract research and development revenue, increased 23% to $4.77 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 from $3.86 million in the prior-year quarter. Net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 increased 62% to $1.70 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, compared to $1.05 million, or $0.22 per share, for the prior-year quarter.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2008, product sales increased 25% to $12.83 million from $10.23 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2007. Total revenue increased 22% to $14.48 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 from $11.90 million for the prior-year period. Net income for the nine months of fiscal 2008 was $4.93 million, or $1.04 per diluted share compared to $3.23 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, for the first nine months of fiscal 2007.


Introduction to spintronics

cover of Introduction to spintronicsIntroduction to Spintronics

author: Supriyo Bandyopadhyay
Marc Cahay
asin: 0849331331
binding: Hardcover
list price: $89.95 USD
amazon price: $56.67 USD


Introduction to Spintronics is an accessible, organized, and progressive presentation of the quantum mechanical concept of spin. The authors build a foundation of principles and equations underlying the physics, transport, and dynamics of spin in solid state systems. They explain the use of spin for encoding qubits in quantum logic processors; clarify how spin-orbit interaction forms the basis for certain spin-based devices such as spintronic field effect transistors; and discuss the effects of magnetic fields on spin-based device performance.

Covers active hybrid spintronic devices, monolithic spintronic devices, passive spintronic devices, and devices based on the giant magnetoresistance effect


Pure Spin Currents In Silicon Generated, Modulated, And Electrically Detected

Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have generated, modulated and electrically detected a pure spin current in silicon, the semiconductor used most widely in the electronic device industry. Magnetic contacts on the surface of an n-type silicon layer enable generation of a spin current which flows separately from a charge current. The spin orientation is electrically detected as a voltage at a second magnetic contact. The relative magnetizations of these contacts allow full control over the orientation of the spin in the silicon channel. This was accomplished in a lateral transport geometry using lithographic techniques compatible with existing device geometries and fabrication methods.