Spintronics-Info: the spintronics experts

Researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed a new thin film material made from bismuth-antimony (BiSb) that is a topological insulator that simultaneously achieves a colossal spin Hall effect and high electrical conductivity.

This material could be used as the basis of spin-orbit torque MRAM (SOT-MRAM). SOT-MRAM SOT-MRAM can overcome the limitation of spin-transfer torque in MRAM memories - and provide a much faster, denser and much more efficient memory technology. Up until now, though, no suitable material that features both high electrical conductivity and a high spin hall effect was developed.

Researchers from the University of Lorraine in France report that following a comprehensive characterization of multilayers of cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni), the material holds great promise for memory applications based on spin transfer torque (STT-MRAM).

It was already shown before that Co/Ni multilayers have very good properties for spintronics applications, but up until now it wasn't clear if the films have a sufficiently large intrinsic spin polarization, which is necessary to create and maintain spin-polarized currents in spintronic devices. It was now shown that the films have a spin polarization of about 90% - which is similar to the best spintronic materials.

Roland Kawakami from Ohio State University gave a lecture at Minnesota Nano Center that discusses spintronics in 2D materials, with a focus on graphene materials:

The lecture also includes opto-spintronics, 2D Magnets, and more.

Researchers from Australia's RMIT found that a 'stacked' 2D material Fe₃GeTe₂ (or FGT) features hard magnetic properties coupled with a near square-shared hysteresis loop and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.

These promising properties mean that this material could be a promising candidate for extremely thin (200 nm) vdW-heterostructure spintronics devices.

Researchers from Singapore's NUS and the University of Missouri developed a new all-electric method to measure the spin texture of topological insulators. The researchers say that this method could lead to an easier (and cheaper) methods of developing spintronics devices.

The new work revealed a close relation between the spin texture of topological surface states (TSS) and a new kind of magneto-resistance. The researchers observed the second order nonlinear magneto-resistance in a prototypical 3D TI Bi₂Se₃ films, and showed that it is sensitive to TSS. In contrast with conventional magneto-resistances, this new magneto-resistance shows a linear dependence on both the applied electric and magnetic fields.

The UK National Physical Laboratory (NPL) published this video of a lecture by Yoshi Chika Otani from Japan's RIKEN and the University of Tokyo titled "Spin Conversion Phenomena in Spintronics"

The lecture covers all the recently discovered conversion phenomena, such as the direct and inverse spin Hall effects, spin Seebeck and Peltier effects, spin pumping, and the inverse Faraday effect.

Perovskite materials offer exciting properties which make them useful for solar panels, fuel cells, lasers, displays and more. Many believe Perovskites are the future of solar power and some estimate that perovskite adoption is right around the corner. Our new video below gives a short introduction to perovskites:

For more information on perovskites and to stay updated on these exciting materials, check out our Perovskite-Info knowledge hub!