February 2013

Tohoku University and NEC developed new "zero standby power" Spintronics logic ICs. They actually developed a library that establishes automatic design flow of nonvolatile logic-in-memory integrated circuits. Using this library they managed to design and make a prototype image processing chip that reduces "unnecessary power consumption" by up to 75%.

This new chip uses 25 processors, but by running only the needed processors for each operation and turning off the power for the unused ones, the power consumption is reduced. NEC says that the new library can be used in addition to existing design tools and will enable large-scale logic-in memory integrated circuits, even without expertise in circuit design or Spintronics technology.

Two German universities (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz - JGU, and the University of Kaiserslautern) are collaborating on two Spintronics commercialization research projects (with a combined budget of €3.8 million).

The first project is the establishment of STeP (Spintronic Technology Platform) in Rhineland-Palatinate, which is designed to boost magnetic coating systems R&D. The main focus of the STeP research is into Heusler materials. This new collaboration means that academic research is being immediately transferred onto an industrial production line.

University of Iowa's researcher Michael Flatté has received a five-year, $958,000 contract from C-SPIN to study new Spintronics materials, with an aim to understand the internal dynamics of a magnet, and how magnetic waves within that magnet can be used to carry information quickly and efficiently around a computer chip.

His previous Spintronics research focused on theories of the fundamental magnetic properties of materials and the behavior of electric currents within them, as well as how to use these materials to construct nanoscale electronic circuits that require considerably less power to function.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK have developed the world's first 3D microchip, based on Spintronics technology. The chip basically uses atoms to store and transfer the data - and not electronic transistors. This may lead to 3D MRAM chips that have a large memory density - thousands of times larger than what's available today.

To create this chip they used sputtering - effectively making a sandwich on a silicon chip of cobalt, platinum and ruthenium atoms. The cobalt and platinum atoms store the digital information in a similar way to how a hard disk drive stores data. The ruthenium atoms act as messengers, communicating that information between neighboring layers of cobalt and platinum. Each of the layers is only a few atoms thick.

Junko Ishi-Hayase from Keio University gave a special presentation titled "quantum measurement of magnetic field using single NV centers in isotopically enriched diamond":

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

Makoto Kohda from the Tohoku University gave a special presentation titled "electronic spin polarization in semiconductor nanostructures". In his talk Makoto discusses spin-polarized current generation without external magnetic fields or ferromagnets (by using Stern-Gerlach spin separation in semiconductor nanostructures). The talk outline is fundamental technologies for Spintronics, spin-dependent force for spin generation/detection, quantum point contact (QPC) for inducting spin polarization, temperature stability for spin polarization in QPC and quantitative evaluation of spin polarization by shortnoise.

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

Theoretical research by A*STAR researchers in Singapore shows that spin-polarized current can simply be achieved by applying an oscillating voltage across the device. Spin-polarized is critical for Spintronics devices, but imperfections in a material can easily destroy the polarization.

The researchers looked at a two-dimensional electron gas (in which the electrons can move only in one plane). If you pass a spin-polarized current through this gas, a Rashba spin-orbit coupling effect makes the spin change (first upwards and then downwards) - which reduces the polarization to zero. Using a spin-current rectifier (like a spin polarization filter) one can control the strength of the Rashba coupling effect and so prolong the spin current's polarization life.