Spin-dependant transport in nanostructures and its applications

by Vladislav Korenivski (Nanostructure Physics, KTH)

Thursday 10 Jun 2004, 10:00 → 11:00 Europe/Stockholm

Although Spintronics is a relatively new field, it has already made headway into mainstream electronics technology. Thin film magneto-resistive field sensors based on the “spin valve” are the sensors presently used in hard disk read heads. I will describe the basics of a new technology currently under active development, the Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM), a form of chip based non-volatile dynamic memory, which could be very important for hand held, low power electronics applications and has a potential for a universal memory. We at KTH-Nanophys investigate new electronic device concepts based on spin dependant transport and nano-scale magnetism. We address issues of basic scientific interest, such as how to measure and theoretically describe non-equilibrium spin distribution caused by the injection of a spin polarized electrical current. We also address problems of importance for applications of spintronics, such as how to switch nano-magnetic elements used for digital memory applications by injection of spin polarized currents.