Spintronics: computation and memory technology using electron spin

Organic Spintronics asin: 143980656X binding: Hardcover list price: $129.95 USD amazon price: $121.39 USD

Organic spintronics is a young field of research with ample current and future potential applications, including spin-valves used in reading and writing modes of magnetic information and memory devices, magnetic field effects on conductivity and electroluminescence, and optically detected magnetic resonance dynamics. The U.S. Department of Defense has invested half a million dollars to further the field of quantum spin-based electronics and the science behind this technology won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics. This book discusses in depth the latest discoveries in the field, including a look at the various materials and applications involved.

Spin Valves in Spintronics Applications author: Seongtae Bae Jack H. asin: 3639234790 binding: Paperback list price: $107.00 USD amazon price: $132.12 USD

Since the spin-valve (SV) effect was first introduced in the beginning of 1990s, the giant/tunneling magnetoresistance (GMR/TMR) SV devices have been extensively used for building blocks of spintronics and magnetic information storage technology. The main purpose of this book is to provide concrete and well-organized core knowledge on SVs covering the general physics and theories elucidating magnetism, exchange bias, and GMR/TMR SV effects, the methodologies how to prepare and to characterize the SV materials, the applications of SV devices including magnetic recording read sensor, magnetic random access memory (MRAM), various spintronics devices, and the electrical and magnetic stability. The broad, deep, and state-of-art technical information provided by this book should help undergraduate/graduate students and the researchers to explore new scientifically challenges being faced in the field of magnetics, spintronics, and biomagnetics research areas.

A Princeton-led team of scientists has observed electrons in a semiconductor on the brink of the metal-insulator transition for the first time. Caught in the act, the electrons formed complex patterns resembling those seen in turbulent fluids, confirming some long-held predictions and providing new insights into how semiconductors can be turned into magnets. The work also could lead to the production of smaller and more energy-efficient computers.

Read more over at AzoMaterials

We've got some more information about the SPIN project we reported on yesterday. They have a web site, and it contains some more information on the project, and its 3 objectives:

The SPIN project aims at demonstrating the potential impact and competitiveness of a new generation of components incorporating in a single chip nanoscience spintronics elements and CMOS technology. The basic proof of concept has already been brought that integration of these different technologies can provide highly innovative components, with the potential to become generic parts for many different products covering health, energy monitoring, domotics, automotive, aeronautics, and electronics. This project is thus focused on the development of a comprehensive set of three key demonstrators carefully chosen to provide a wide validation of such functionalities. These three objectives share very similar underlying technologies, so there is a large part of common work in their development, and our consortium gathers comprehensive expertise at the leading edge of the area.
Each demonstrator will be delivered with a report on the risk of industrialization, the life time targeted and the security and environmental impact, which will serve as basis for future industrialization.

Objective 1 : Magnetic FPGAs

The objective will be to design a magnetic FPGA which will incorporate finely distributed Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJs) for non volatile storage and configuration purposes above of a CMOS core circuit. In complement of existing high density FPGAs, it will provide better versatility with intrinsic reconfigurability, instant on/off and energy saving. Such FPGAs can be used as general purpose standalone products. In the SPIN project, the FPGA will be targeted to provide intelligent processing of the magnetometers and sensors developed in objectives 2 and 3.

The French National Research Agency (ANR) has announced its support to the SPIN project (SPintronics for Innovative Nanotechnologies) - which aims at demonstrating the potential impact and competitiveness of a new generation of devices incorporating in a single chip (3D) spintronics elements and CMOS technology. The project's budget is 4.2M euro, and has 11 partners.

Combined with CMOS circuits, Spintronics could offer discriminating benefits over pure CMOS counterparts. Basic proofs of concept mixing these two technologies have already been demonstrated and yielded highly innovative components as building blocks for many different products covering health, energy monitoring, domestics, automotive, aeronautics, and electronics. Beside non volatile logic developments, two new important needs have recently emerged where Spintronics components could be essential: arrays of ultra sensitive, low noise magnetic sensors for medical applications and in particular for biochips, and compact arrays of magnetic sensors with high galvanic insulation for current and voltage non contact monitoring. These magnetic sensors are based on the spin-valve technology, an industrial derivative of the well-known GMR effect. CMOS integration of spin valve devices for achieving extended control, high reproducibility and low cost is the main challenge for wide implementation of these devices for magnetic sensing. Partners of the SPIN consortium have already developed proofs of concepts of these devices in the prior projects.

Toshiba announced that it has developed a MOSFET cell based on spintronics. Toshiba has introduced magnetic layers into the source and drain of a MOSFET cell, and successfully applied these to controlling spin direction by the spin-transfer-torque-switching (STS) method, and by applying gate and source/drain voltages. A magnetic tunnel junction is applied for write operation of STS in the magnetic layers, which are formed with full-Heusler alloy, an intermetallic that acts as a high spin polarizer.

Toshiba confirmed the practical performance in transistor level of the scalable spintronics-based MOSFET device that promises fast random write and access speeds with low power consumption. It opens the way to next-generation non-volatile semiconductor devices that can be used as reconfigurable logic devices, and non-volatile LSI chip with memory function.

Prof. Albert Fert (who won the Nobel prize in 2007 for GMR) talks about GMR and Spintronics:

David Awschalom of the University of California brings us a good introduction to Spintronics:

Researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands have demonstrated the manipulation and detection of spin-polarized electrons in silicon at room temperature (150C warmer than what was previously achieved). 

The team used careful design of the interface where the electrons enter the silicon - the materials must be pure and of a precisely determined thickness in order to preserve the delicate spin polarization. This is an important step towards spintronic-electronics.

Via BBC News

Magnetic Nanomaterials (Nanomaterials for the Life Sciences) asin: 3527321543 binding: Hardcover list price: $205.00 USD amazon price: $222.09 USD

A must-have ten-volume successor to the critically acclaimed Nanotechnologies for the Life Sciences series, Magnetic Nanomaterials is as a cross-disciplinary reference that provides an excellent, in-depth overview of all nanomaterial types and their uses in the life sciences. Each volume is dedicated to a specific material class and covers fundamentals, synthesis strategies, structure-property relationships, material behavior fine-tuning, biological effects, and applications in the life sciences. This landmark publication provides materials scientists, chemists, biologists, molecular biologists, clinical physicists, physiological chemists, medicinal chemists, and toxicologists with essential awareness of life science and nanomaterials abilities.