July 2015

Researchers from the US DoE's Argonne National Laboratory discovered that a pure-spin current can be created in materials that are insulators. Previously it was thought that such a current is possible in magnetic materials only.

The researchers generated a magnetic field on a layer of ferromagnetic YIG (yttrium iron garnet) on a substrate of paramagnetic GGG (gadolinium gallium garnet). To their surprise, the spin current was stronger in the GGG than it was in the YIG. They actually do not know how this works - and understanding it is the next step in their research.

Researchers from Switzerland's EPFL discovered that electrons can jump through spins (spin cross-over) much faster than previously thought - indeed 100,000 times faster!

Spin cross-over is used in many technologies today (such as energy conversion systems, cancer phototherapy and OLED devices). It was believed to be too slow to be used in electronics/spintronics circuits - but now that may change and open a new route to spintronics devices.

Researchers from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) developed a new type of room-temperature tunnel device structure in which the tunnel barrier and transport channel are both made of graphene.

In this new design, hydrogenated graphene acts as a tunnel barrier on another layer of graphene for charge and spin transport. The researchers demonstrated spin-polarized tunnel injection through the hydrogenated graphene, and lateral transport, precession and electrical detection of pure spin current in the graphene channel. The team sasy that the spin polarization values are higher than those found using more common oxide tunnel barriers, and spin transport at room temperature.