Researchers at Osaka University have reported a technique for recovering magnetism in a degraded spintronics device. This method can be applied to improve the robustness of next-generation semiconductor memory.

Spintronics exploits the spin (and charge) of electrons to process and store memory, which is achieved practically by stacking layers of thin material films that behave differently under the influence of a magnetic field. “These devices can be non-volatile, low-power, and robust, but the manufacturing process can cause their magnetic properties to deteriorate,” explains Tomohiro Koyama, lead author of the study. The thin films required for these devices are often formed via sputtering, in which atoms are extracted and deposited onto a substrate. This process, however, can often lead to the magnetic layer becoming oxidized, spoiling its magnetic properties.

Scientists from TU Delft National Institute for Materials Science, University of Valencia, University of Regensburg and Harvard University have observed quantum spin currents in graphene for the first time without using magnetic fields. These currents are important for spintronics and could promote technologies like quantum computing and advanced memory devices.

Quantum physicist Talieh Ghiasi has demonstrated the quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect in graphene for the first time without any external magnetic fields. The QSH effect causes electrons to move along the edges of the graphene without any disruption, with all their spins pointing in the same direction. “Spin is a quantum mechanical property of electrons, which is like a tiny magnet carried by the electrons, pointing up or down”, Ghiasi explains. “We can leverage the spin of electrons to transfer and process information in so-called spintronics devices. Such circuits hold promise for next-generation technologies, including faster and more energy-efficient electronics, quantum computing, and advanced memory devices.”

Researchers from the University of Minnesota−Twin Cities, MIT, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University and Pusan National University have discovered surprising magnetic behavior in one of the thinnest metallic oxide materials ever made. This could pave the way for the next generation of faster and smarter spintronic and quantum computing devices.

Using an advanced materials growth technique called hybrid molecular beam epitaxy, the researchers created ultra-thin layers of RuO₂, a compound typically known for its metallic but nonmagnetic behavior. By applying epitaxial strain to these atomically thin layers, they were able to induce magnetic properties in a material that is otherwise nonmagnetic.

Researchers at MIT, Università degli Studi "Gabriele d'Annunzio", Yale University, Drexel University, Rutgers University and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated a new form of magnetism that could one day be harnessed to build faster, denser, and less power-hungry spintronic memory chips.

The new magnetic state is a hybrid of two main forms of magnetism: the ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. Now, the MIT team has demonstrated a new form of magnetism, termed “p-wave magnetism.”

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, Tiangong University in China, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have reported an innovative method that advances the understanding of spin dynamics in textured magnets and could facilitate the development of spintronic technologies based on frustrated magnetic systems.

Magnetic skyrmions excited by currents of spin polarized electrons (Illustration) 

The team's approach presents a new way to manipulate and track the motion of tiny magnetic structures known as skyrmions, that has the potential to enable more efficient memory and sensing devices in future electronics.

Here are some recent and popular spintronics industry and research news that you may find of interest:

• Researchers show that light can interact with single-atom layers
• New antiferromagnetic spintronics project receives funding of nearly $4 million
• TDK announces the world's first "Spin Photo Detector" with 10X data transmission speeds
• Spin-based memory could brings brain-like computing closer to reality
• Researchers report "somersaulting spin qubits"
• Researchers develop non-thermal method to alter magnetization using XUV radiation
• Researchers tackle key obstacles to bringing 2D magnetic materials into practical use
• New EU-funded project applies spintronics to the field of artificial intelligence
• Intel unveils a highly promising MESO spintronics device architecture
• Researchers report a new type of magnetism called altermagnetism
• Researchers develop spin-selective memtransistors with magnetized graphene
• Researchers use perovskite materials and light to control electron spins

According to scientists from Japan's Kobe University and University of Electro-Communications, there has long been a debate on whether bismuth is part of a class of materials highly suitable for quantum computing and spintronics. The research team has now revealed that the true nature of bismuth was masked by its surface, and in doing so uncovered a new phenomenon relevant to all such materials.

There is a class of materials that are insulators in their bulk, but robustly conductive at their surface. As this conductivity does not suffer from defects or impurities, such “topological materials,” as they are called, are expected to be highly suitable for use in quantum computers, spintronics and other advanced electronic applications. However, whether bismuth is a topological material or not has been under scientific debate for the past almost 20 years, with many calculations showing that it shouldn’t be, but certain measurements indicating differently. Kobe University quantum solid state physicist Fuseya Yuki says: “I have been fascinated by bismuth and have been conducting research with the desire to know everything there is to know about the element. As a bismuth lover, I could not overlook such a situation and delved into the debate, hoping to solve the mystery.”

Researchers at National Taiwan University have developed a new type of spintronic device that mimics how synapses work in the brain—offering a path to more energy-efficient and accurate artificial intelligence systems.

In their recent study, the team introduced three novel memory device designs, all controlled purely by electric current and without any need for an external magnetic field. Among the devices, the one based on “tilted anisotropy” stood out. This optimized structure was able to achieve 11 stable memory states with highly consistent switching behavior.

An international team of researchers has succeeded for the first time to elucidate how ultrafast spin-polarized current pulses can be characterized by measuring the ultrafast demagnetization in a magnetic layer system within the first hundreds of femtoseconds.

The scheme shows (from left to right): Hot electrons generated by a laser in platinum (light blue), the copper (yellow) is used to block the laser pulse so that only the hot electrons propagate and transport a spin current through the magnetic spin valve structure of cobalt platinum (blue-brown) and iron gadolinium (green). Image credit: HZB

The findings could be useful for the development of spintronic devices that enable faster and more energy-efficient information processing and storage. The collaboration involved teams from the University of Strasbourg, HZB, Uppsala University and several other universities.

In 2023, EPFL researchers succeeded in sending and storing data using charge-free magnetic waves called spin waves, rather than traditional electron flows. The team from the Lab of Nanoscale Magnetic Materials and Magnonics, led by Dirk Grundler, used radiofrequency signals to excite spin waves enough to reverse the magnetization state of tiny nanomagnets. When switched from 0 to 1, for example, this allows the nanomagnets to store digital information; a process used in computer memory, and more broadly in information and communication technologies. This work was a big step toward sustainable computing, because encoding data via spin waves (whose quasiparticles are called magnons) could eliminate the energy loss, or Joule heating, associated with electron-based devices. But at the time, the spin wave signals could not be used to reset the magnetic bits to overwrite existing data.

Now, Grundler's lab at EPFL, in collaboration with colleagues from Beihang University, ETH Zurich, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China's International Quantum Academy, have published a study that could make such repeated encoding possible. Specifically, they report unprecedented magnetic behavior in hematite: an iron oxide compound that is earth-abundant and much more environmentally friendly than materials currently used in spintronics.