Hideo Ohno from Tohoku University's center for spintronics integrated systems gave a special presentation titled "recent topics in diluted magnetic semiconductors". In his talk, Hideo gives an introduction to ferromagnetic (III,Mn)As and then discusses manipulation by electric-field and materials systems other than (III,Mn)As.

This presentation was given at Keio University's Semiconductor-Spintronics workshop which took place on January 24.

Here's an nice video introducing the NSF Center for Molecular Spintronics at North Carolina State University:

Ron Jansen from the Spintronics Research Center at the National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) gives an interesting lecture about recent progress in silicon spintronics:

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and University of Colorado Boulder (CU) developed a new chip that uses microfluidics and magnetic switches to trap and transport magnetic beads. This low-power device may be useful for medical devices. This technology may also lead us towards "MRAM" chips used for molecular and cellular manipulation.

In the past, magnetic particle transport chips required continuous power and even cooling. This new technology manages to overcome the power and heat issues, and offers random-access two-dimensional control and non-volatile memory. The prototype chip uses 12 spin valves (commonly used as magnetic sensors in HD read heads) which are optimized for magnetic trapping. Pulses of electric current are used to switch individual spin valve magnets “on” to trap a bead, or “off” to release it, and thereby move the bead down a ladder formed by the two lines. The beads start out suspended in salt water above the valves before being trapped in the array.

Researchers from Japan's Hokkaido University are developing methods for visualizing electron spin states at surfaces on the nanoscale or atomic scale. They are also developing new materials for nano-spintronics using those visualization methods. Here's a video introducing the research currently under way:

The Yamamoto Group at Hokkaido University is researching spintronics devices that use new ferromagnetic materials. These materials are called half-metals, and the spins of the materials are completely aligned. Here's a nice video about their research:

Researchers from the Quantum Electronics Laboratory at Hokkaido University are studying quantum functional devices, with the aim of fabricating "Beyond CMOS" switching devices. To achieve this, the researchers have proposed "quantum cross devices," which have nanoscale contacts. Quantum cross devices utilize a new structure, where the edges of thin metal films are crossed. In this structure, the contact area depends on the film thickness. For example, metal films 1-20 nm thick can, in principle, form a nanoscale contact with size between 1 x 1 and 20 x 20 square nanometers.

Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology are studying how precisely the behavior of single electrons can be controlled and measured. The researchers fabricate semiconductor nanostructures, and investigate their behavior on timescales at or below the nanosecond level. They then study the particle and wave properties of electrons, as well as their interaction:

Watch David Awschalom, a Spintronics pioneer, in a great talk at TEDxCaltech titled "Spintronics: Abandoning Perfection for the Quantum Age". This is a great introduction to Spintronics:

The KEIO Spintronics Research Center released a nice 'promotional' video explaining about the center and the relationship with other spintronics research centers: