August 2012

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have managed to precisely measure the non-adiabatic spin torque. They say that their new finding defines the upper limit on processing speed of Spintronic devices.

The new measurement pins down a fundamental limit on data manipulation speeds, there's still a need to translate it to processor speed or hard-drive space specifications...

IBM and ETH Zurich managed to create a persistent spin helix - that kept the spin for 1.1 nanoseconds, enough for a full-cycle in a 1 Ghz processor. This is about 30 times longer than previously achieved.

The researchers managed to sustain the spin by using a gallium arsenide based semiconductor material and a very low temperature (-232C).

Researchers from Georgia State University (GSU) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) developed a new technique that enabled them to to study the spin characteristics of electrons using graphene.

The research team illuminating the graphene based device by microwaves (which causes the spin-splitting energy to equalize). The device’s resistance is altered when the microwave energy is absorbed by the device. This effect is small and difficult to measure normally, but by using Graphene, enabled them to actually witness this effect.