Spintronics—A retrospective and perspective

Spintronics is a rapidly emerging field of science and technology that will most likely have a significant impact on the future of all aspects of electronics as we continue to move into the 21st century. Conventional electronics are based on the charge of the electron. Attempts to use the other fund...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IBM journal of research and development 2006-01, Vol.50 (1), p.101-110
Main Authors: Wolf, S A, Chtchelkanova, A Y, Treger, D M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer industry
Consortia
Disk drives
Electronics
Electronics industry
Electrons
Laboratories
Magnetic fields
Magnetism
R&D
Radiation
Random access memory
Research & development
Semiconductors
Sensors
Temperature
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Summary:Spintronics is a rapidly emerging field of science and technology that will most likely have a significant impact on the future of all aspects of electronics as we continue to move into the 21st century. Conventional electronics are based on the charge of the electron. Attempts to use the other fundamental property of an electron, its spin, have given rise to a new, rapidly evolving field, known as spintronics, an acronym for spin transport electronics that was first introduced in 1996 to designate a program of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Initially, the spintronics program involved overseeing the development of advanced magnetic memory and sensors based on spin transport electronics. It was then expanded to included Spins IN Semiconductors (SPINS), in the hope of developing a new paradigm in semiconductor electronics based on the spin degree of freedom of the electron. Studies of spin-polarized transport in bulk and low-dimensional semiconductor structures show promise for the creation of a hybrid device that would combine magnetic storage with gain-in effect, a spin memory transistor. This paper reviews some of the major developments in this field and provides a perspective of what we think will be the future of this exciting field. It is not meant to be a comprehensive review of the whole field but reflects a bias on the part of the authors toward areas that they believe will lead to significant future technologies. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0018-8646
0018-8646
2151-8556
DOI:10.1147/rd.501.0101