Scientists establish a new principle for future spin devices Current technologies for writing, storing, and reading information are either charge-based or spin-based. Semiconductor flash or random access memories are prime examples among the large variety of charge-based devices. These systems utilize the possibility offered by semiconductors to easily electrically manipulate and detect their electronic charge states representing the “zeros” and “ones”. The downside, however, is that weak perturbations such as impurities, temperature change, or radiation can lead to uncontrolled charge redistributions and, as a consequence, to data loss. Spin-based devices operate on an entirely distinct principle. In some materials, like iron, electron spins generate magnetism and the position of the north and south pole of the magnet can be used to store the zeros and ones. This technology is behind memory applications ranging from kilobyte magnetic stripe cards to terabyte computer hard disks. As they are based on spin, the devices are much more robust against charge perturbations.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 17:09:45 +0000
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