Spintronics: computation and memory technology using electron spin

In magnetic memory devices, information is stored in magnetic elements and typically retrieved by applying a small, external magnetic field. More convenient, however, is the use of a spin-polarized current, in which moving electrons exert a torque on a magnetic element and can switch the direction of its magnetization.

Unfortunately, moving electrons can give rise to electrical noise, which reduces the efficiency of the magnetization control. Now, Yoshichika Otani from the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute in Wako and colleagues have overcome this problem by using a pure spin current*, that is, a diffusion of electron spins without charge motion.

In a genuinely useful piece of spintronics, engineers from European lab CEA, Hitachi, and STMicroelectronics built a 13GHz spin torque RF oscillator based on magnetic tunnelling junctions that is 50x smaller than the equivalent LC oscillator, and tunes over 85% of its frequency compared with 15% for LC types. Measurements over one minute show phase jitter of 36ps_(RMS) with the oscillator set at 7.36GHz. The required stack of magnetic layers has a footprint only 90nm across and is constructed by sputtering.

Via ElectronicsWeekly

Researchers working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated for the first time the existence of a key magnetic—as opposed to electronic—property of specially built semiconductor devices. This discovery raises hopes for even smaller and faster gadgets that could result from magnetic data storage in a semiconductor material, which could then quickly process the data through built-in logic circuits controlled by electric fields.

We just hear that Atomistix went bankrupt, and QuantumWise has bought all assets. QuantumWise is a start-up born at the Nano-Science Center and the E-Science Center at Copenhagen University in Denmark.

QuantumWise develops software which in particular can be used for research related to future electronic devices such as transistors and memory circuits. This paves the way for computers and storage devices with radically better performance and capacity than today. 

Via University of Copenhagen

In the race to develop the next generation of storage and recording media, a major hurdle has been the difficulty of studying the tiny magnetic structures that will serve as their building blocks. Now a team of physicists at the University of California, Davis, has developed a technique to capture the magnetic “fingerprints” of certain nanostructures — even when they are buried within the boards and junctions of an electronic device.

Due to the miniscule physical dimensions of nanomagnets — some are as small as 50 atoms wide — observing their magnetic configurations has been a challenge, especially when they are not exposed but built into a functioning device.

Researchers in France and the US have lowered the current required for spin transfer down to just 120 microamps at room temperature for a device that measures 45 nm across.

Spin transfer is when the spin angular momentum of charge carriers (usually electrons) in a material is transferred from one place to another. In the MRAM industry, Spin Transfer might help to significantly reduce power consumption, but it draws a large current. But the new technique can help with that. 

Stéphane Mangin from Nancy University and colleagues may fabricated 45 nm diameter spin valves based on cobalt-nickel multilayer elements. Because these devices exhibit perpendicular anisotropy, they are thermally stable and require currents as low as 120 microamps for spin transfer switching without any applied magnetic field.

Via NanoTechWeb

NVE Corporation announced today financial results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2008.  Total revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 increased 23% to $5.88 million from $4.77 million in the prior-year quarter. The revenue increase was due to an 8% increase in product sales and a 150% increase in contract research and development revenue. Net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 increased 45% to $2.47 million.

NVE reported a strong growth in contract R&D. In the conference call, Daniel Baker (company's CEO) said - "Most of the contracts that we're working on right now are related to anti-tamper MRAM".

Researchers in Germany and Latvia show that a single electron pump can be used to manipulate spin. 

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers now believe that carbon nanotubes can be used to detect nanoscale magnetic states (Spin) by changing their conductance. They demonstrated the change by embedding tiny nanoparticles of magnetic cobalt into multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

The researchers furthermore claim that their findings could enable spintronics applications, nanoscale storage devices and ultra-sensitive conductance detectors.

Via EETimes