July 2008

Researchers have developed a new method of studying tiny magnets that could yield high-density memory based on the emerging field of spintronics.

By implanting tiny “ferromagnets” onto processor chips, researchers expect to create small electronic devices and computers that never need to boot up. Ferromagnets are magnets made of ferrous metal such as iron, and are used in common items such as refrigerator magnets.

According to experimental physicist Chris Hammel, ferromagnets are central to incorporating memory directly into the basic logic elements at the heart of a computer.

Read more here (ITNews)

Focusing semiconductor lasers usually requires bulky optical lenses acting as a "collimator." Researchers have now demonstrated a plasmonic collimator that utilizes grooves etched directly into the semiconductor laser facet. If the technique is adopted -- Harvard University has applied for a patent on the process -- then semiconductor lasers can be downsized to a bare die without a lens.

Eventually the team at Harvard and Hamamatsu Photonics (Hamamatsu City, Japan) hope to demonstrate electrically-controlled polarization of laser beams for use in spintronics and quantum computing.

"The plasmonic collimator is applicable to all semiconductor lasers," claimed Harvard professor Federico Capasso. "This research opens up using plasmonic structures built on the laser facet to make any desired state of polarization -- the holy grail of spintronics and quantum information processing."

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"Product sales drove strong profits,'' said NVE President and Chief Executive Officer Daniel A. Baker, Ph.D. "Gross margin was 71% of revenue, operating margin 52%, pretax margin 58%, and net margin 39%.''

NVE is a leader in the practical commercialization of spintronics, a nanotechnology that relies on electron spin rather than electron charge to acquire, store and transmit information. The company manufactures high-performance spintronic products including sensors and couplers that are used to acquire and transmit data. NVE has also licensed its spintronic magnetoresistive random access memory technology, commonly known as MRAM.

Scientists funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research have used a single photon technique to observe the evolution of individual electron spins in semiconductor nanostructures.

Dr. David Awschalom, professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is coordinating the research. He and his team are exploring the benefits of electronic devices using spintronics to power quantum computers made of diamond.

"This technology may allow the Air Force to reduce electronic power consumption by creating low-power electronic devices capable of massive improvements in processing speeds, and increasing storage densities by orders of magnitude" Doctor Awschalom said.

Researchers have found that diamond is an electrical insulator, but when combined with other elements, it can become a semiconductor with formidable properties for computers and solid-state, microwave electronics. Scientists' newfound ability to grow a nanometer-to-micron sized synthetic diamond is enhancing the field of semiconductor spintronics and quantum information processing.