Valleytronics may enable more efficient spintronics devices

Researchers from the University of Bath and international collaborators have developed a technology that enabled them to polarize valleys in silicon in the steady state, and demonstrated that valley polarization can make spin polarization easier. This may have useful implications towards building spintronics devices.

Valleytronics aims to exploit the valley degree of freedom in thin 2D materials (such as graphene) and use it to perform calculations - and this is the first time valleys are controlled.