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.

Researchers from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and South China Normal University have proposed a hybrid transfer and epitaxy strategy, enabling the heterogeneous integration of single-crystal oxide spin Hall materials on silicon substrates for high-performance oxide-based spintronic devices.

Heterogeneous integration of single-crystal SrRuO₃ films on silicon for spin-orbit torque devices with low-power consumption. Credit: NIMTE

Single-crystal oxide spin Hall materials are known for their exceptional charge-spin conversion efficiency, making them promising candidates for low-power spintronic devices, particularly spin-orbit torque (SOT) devices. However, integrating these materials with silicon substrates poses significant challenges. To address these challenges, the researchers developed a method that combines transfer technology with epitaxial deposition, successfully integrating oxide spin Hall materials onto silicon substrates. Using this approach, they were able to create single-crystal SrRuO₃ (SRO) films on silicon substrates and prepare corresponding SOT devices.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia, Japan Atomic Energy Agency and Japan's Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society have reported a rare form of one-dimensional quantum magnetism in a metallic compound called Ti₄MnBi₂.

Unlike previous materials that were insulators, this system is metallic and shows strong interaction between magnetism and conduction, hinting at entirely new possibilities in quantum computing and spintronics. The experimental confirmation — supported by neutron scattering and advanced simulations — opens the door to new classes of materials that could redefine how we understand magnetism and electronic behavior at the quantum level.

Diamonds with certain optically active defects can be used as highly sensitive sensors or qubits for quantum computers, where the quantum information is stored in the electron spin state of these colour centres. However, the spin states have to be read out optically, which is often experimentally complex. 

Now, reseatchers at HZB have developed a novel method using a photo voltage to detect the individual and local spin states of these defects. This could lead to a much more compact design of quantum sensors.

TDK Corporation has announced that it has developed the world's first "Spin Photo Detector," a photo-spintronic conversion element combining optical, electronic, and magnetic elements that can respond at an ultra-high speed of 20 picoseconds (20 × 10⁻¹² s) using light with a wavelength of 800 nm ^[1] – more than 10X faster than conventional semiconductor-based photo detectors. 

This new device is expected to be a key driver for implementing photoelectric conversion technology that boosts data transmission and data processing speed, particularly in AI applications, while simultaneously reducing power consumption.