March 2010

Scientists from UCLA say they created a new class of material with magnetic properties in a dilute magnetic semiconductor (DMS) system. By using a type of quantum structure, they've been able to push the ferromagnetism above room temperature. 

Ferromagnetic coupling in DMS systems, the researchers say, could lead to a new breed of magneto-electronic devices that alleviate the problems related to electric currents. The electric field–controlled ferromagnetism reported in this study shows that without passing an electric current, electronic devices could be operated and functioning based on the collective spin behavior of the carriers. This holds great promise for building next-generation nanoscaled integrated chips with much lower power consumption.

A group led by Professor Hideo Ohno in the Laboratory of Nanoelectronics and Spintronics, at Tohoku University is working to develop new integrated circuits using spintronics. The ICs store data in nonvolatile memory using magnetism (MRAM), so their standby power can be made zero. This memory utilizes the tunnel magneto-resistance effect.

A short clip explaining the Spintronics materials research done at the Takanashi laboratory in Tohoku University in Japan:

Osaka's university has a Spintronics research group that is working towards MRAM and STT-RAM using several materials including Graphene. Here's a nice intro video about the group:

Spintronics-Info was upgraded today (if anyone is interested, we upgraded to Drupal 6.x from 5.8) Most of the changes are infrastructure related so you won't notice much, but hopefully the site should be faster now, more stable and more secure.

If you do find any bugs, glitches or you have any comments, please let us know!