An important step in the next generation of computers: Vital Insight Into Spintronics
Scientists are one step closer to the next generation of computers. Research conducted in the Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge gives a new understanding of spintronics (spin electronics), which was regarded as the successor of the transistor.
Spintronics uses the tiny magnetic moments of an electron, or " spin ", due to which it can drastically change the computational power due to its high-speed potential, high density and low power consumption. New research sheds light on how to make the "spin" more effective.
Over the past fifty years, progress in electronics has largely depended on reducing transistors in the semiconductor industry to create small, powerful computers that are the foundation of our modern information society. In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore described that the number of transistors that are placed on an integrated circuit doubled each year between 1958 and 1965, predicting that this trend would continue for at least another ten years.
This prediction, also known as Moore's law, in fact, this law describes a trend that continues today, but the end of this trend — when the transistors are small like atoms and cannot be reduced further — this is already expected in 2015 (well, will hope...).
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Research in the field of spintronics is an attempt to develop spin-based electronic technologies that will replace semiconductor technology. Scientists have already begun to develop a new spin-electronics, starting with the discovery in 1988 of the action of giant magnetoresistance (GMR). The discovery of the GMR effect led to a breakthrough in the size of hard drives and was a key moment in the development of portable electronic devices such as the iPod.
While conventional technologies are based on the use of electron charge, spintronics areas are based on spin manipulation. One of the unique properties in spintronics is that the spin can be transferred without the flow of electric charge. This is called “spin current” and, unlike other concepts of electron operation, information can be transmitted through spin current without generating heat in electrical devices. The main problems in creating a spin current is the difficulty of creating a sufficiently large amount of spin current to support current and future electronic devices.
However, the new researchers at Cambridge, in close cooperation with Professor Sergey Demokritov, a group from Munster, addressed this issue. In order to create stronger spin currents, the researchers used a collective motion of spins, called spin waves. By bringing the spin waves together, they demonstrated a new, more efficient way to produce spin current.
Dr. Hidekazu Kurebayashi, from the group of microelectronics in the Cavendish Laboratory, said: “You can find many different waves in nature, and one of the fascinating things is that the waves often interact with each other, and there are a number of different interactions in spin waves. Our idea is to use the interaction of such spin waves to create effective spin currents. ”
According to their data, one of the interactions of spin waves (the so-called three-magnon splitting) generates a spin current that is ten times more efficient than using pre-interacting spin waves.
Well, we are waiting for 2015, when the transistors will be the size of an atom :)
Spintronics uses the tiny magnetic moments of an electron, or " spin ", due to which it can drastically change the computational power due to its high-speed potential, high density and low power consumption. New research sheds light on how to make the "spin" more effective.
Over the past fifty years, progress in electronics has largely depended on reducing transistors in the semiconductor industry to create small, powerful computers that are the foundation of our modern information society. In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore described that the number of transistors that are placed on an integrated circuit doubled each year between 1958 and 1965, predicting that this trend would continue for at least another ten years.
This prediction, also known as Moore's law, in fact, this law describes a trend that continues today, but the end of this trend — when the transistors are small like atoms and cannot be reduced further — this is already expected in 2015 (well, will hope...).
')
Research in the field of spintronics is an attempt to develop spin-based electronic technologies that will replace semiconductor technology. Scientists have already begun to develop a new spin-electronics, starting with the discovery in 1988 of the action of giant magnetoresistance (GMR). The discovery of the GMR effect led to a breakthrough in the size of hard drives and was a key moment in the development of portable electronic devices such as the iPod.
While conventional technologies are based on the use of electron charge, spintronics areas are based on spin manipulation. One of the unique properties in spintronics is that the spin can be transferred without the flow of electric charge. This is called “spin current” and, unlike other concepts of electron operation, information can be transmitted through spin current without generating heat in electrical devices. The main problems in creating a spin current is the difficulty of creating a sufficiently large amount of spin current to support current and future electronic devices.
However, the new researchers at Cambridge, in close cooperation with Professor Sergey Demokritov, a group from Munster, addressed this issue. In order to create stronger spin currents, the researchers used a collective motion of spins, called spin waves. By bringing the spin waves together, they demonstrated a new, more efficient way to produce spin current.
Dr. Hidekazu Kurebayashi, from the group of microelectronics in the Cavendish Laboratory, said: “You can find many different waves in nature, and one of the fascinating things is that the waves often interact with each other, and there are a number of different interactions in spin waves. Our idea is to use the interaction of such spin waves to create effective spin currents. ”
According to their data, one of the interactions of spin waves (the so-called three-magnon splitting) generates a spin current that is ten times more efficient than using pre-interacting spin waves.
Well, we are waiting for 2015, when the transistors will be the size of an atom :)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/123575/
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