March 2016

Researchers at Purdue University have shown that there is a very simple rule that governs light spin and momentum locking. This is a universal property for all optical materials and nanostructures, which makes it potentially very useful for photonic devices. This universality is unique to light and does not occur for electrons.

The researchers aim to use these spin properties of light to interface with spintronics so that we might use both photons and electrons in devices.

Researchers have succeeded, for the first time, in producing graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with perfect zigzag edges. Electrons on these zigzag edges exhibit different (and coupled) rotational spin - which means they could be highly attractive for next-gen Spintronics devices.

In their work, the research team describes how it managed to synthesize GNRs with perfectly zigzagged edges using suitable carbon precursor molecules and a perfected manufacturing process. The zigzags followed a very specific geometry along the longitudinal axis of the ribbons.