Israeli researcher hopes to extend battery life and make faster processors using Spintronics

Dr. Amos Sharoni, an Israeli researcher from Bar-Ilan University is working to make existing batteries last 10 times longer and existing processors work 10 times faster using Spintronics.

Dr. Amos Sharoni photo

Spintronics is the basis of electrical systems. We manipulate electronics to give us power that translates into functions like playing a song. "It's all electrons. They have a charge. There is a battery with a plus-minus. But the electrons have another property - their spin, a small magnetic field, pointing up or down," he explains.

"None of the electronics today use this spin property to do anything," says Sharoni. "It's wasted potential. The reason is because even the smallest element of the device is big, and due to this, you lose all the spin information you have. It gets messy. In regular devices - you just lose it - it's like trying to look through fog."

He explained that his research challenge is to find a way to "listen" to what's happening in the system. Ultimately, his work could lead to processors that work faster, and for longer periods of time.

Posted: May 26,2010 by Ron Mertens