Introduction

Conventional electronic devices ignore the

spin property and rely strictly on the transport of the electrical charge of electrons

Spintronics also known as spin

electronics or fluxtronic, is an emerging technology exploiting both the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment , in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-state devices.

history
Spintronics emerged from discoveries in the 1980s

concerning spin-dependent electron transport phenomena in solid-state devices. the theoretical proposal of a spin field-effect-transistor byDatta and Das in 1990. In 2012, IBM scientists mapped the creation of persistent spin helices of synchronized electrons persisting for more than a nanosecond.

Disadvantages of electronics
High power consumption.
High heat dissipation. Electronics memory is volatile. Takes up higher space on chip, thus less compact. Electron manipulation is lower , so poor read & write speed. Electronics require unique and specialized semiconductors materials. Common metals such as Fe, Al, Ag , etc. cant be used.

Future Demands
Moores Law states that the number of transistors on a silicon

chip will roughly double every eighteen months

By 2008, it is projected that the width of the electrodes in a

microprocessor will be 45nm across

As electronic devices become smaller, quantum properties of

the wave like nature of electrons are no longer negligible

Spintronic

devices offer the possibility of enhanced functionality, higher speed, and reduced power consumption

Computational benefits
Simple device structure for high degree of integration and high

process yield.
Large magnetocurrent for high speed operation High transconductance for high speed operation High amplification capability (V, I, and/or power) Hyperthreading enchancment Bit vs. qubit

Comparison of spintronics with electronics

Electronics v/s Spintronics

One of the main advantage of spintronics over electronics is

the magnets tend to stay magnetize which is sparking in the industry an interest for replacing computers semiconductor

based components with magnetic ones, starting with the RAM.

With an all-magnetic RAM, it is now possible to have a

computer that retains all the information put into it. Most
importantly, there will be no boot-up waiting period when power is turned on.

Another promising feature of spintronics is that it doesnt

require the use of unique and specialized semiconductor, there

by allowing it to work with common metals like Cu, Al, Ag.

Spintronics will use less power than conventional electronics,

because the energy needed to change spin is a minute fraction

of what is needed to push charge around.

Conventional Electronics
Ohmic contact
n+

Metal Gate
Oxide

Ohmic Contact

n+

P-type Si

Electron Inversion layer

Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor MOSFET Gate Voltage changes electron density changes conductivity

Spintronics
FM Metal
Schottky Gate

FM Metal
Spin Analyzer 2DEG

Spin Injector
B

Modulation Doped AlGaAs

InGaAs

Spin Transistor
Inject polarized spin from one FM contact -- modulate current by modifying spin precession via Rashba effect

Principal of spintronics

Spintronics is based on the spin of electrons rather than its charge.

Every electron exist in one of the two states- spin-up and spindown, with spins either positive half or negative half.

In other words, electrons can rotate either clock wise or anticlockwise around its own axis with constant frequency.
The two possible spin states represent 0 and 1 in logical operations.

Combining the best of both worlds

Ferro magnets Stable Memory Fast switching High ordering temp Spin transport Technological base (magnetic recordings)

Semiconductors Bandgap engineering Carrier density & type Electrical gating Long spin lifetime Technological base (Electronics)

develop spin based transistors , switches and logic circuits?

create control propagate spin information in semiconductor structures?

Advantages of Spin
Information is stored into spin as one of two possible

orientations Spin lifetime is relatively long, on the order of nanoseconds

Spin currents can be manipulated Spin devices may combine logic and storage functionality eliminating the need for separate components Magnetic storage is nonvolatile Binary spin polarization offers the possibility of applications

as qubits in quantum computers

Spin is a characteristic that makes an electron a tiny magnet with north and south poles.
The orientation of north-south axis depends on the particles axis of spin. In ordinary materials, the up magnetic moments cancel the down magnetic moment so no surplus moment piles up. Ferro-magnetic materials like iron, cobalt and nickel is needed for designing of spin electronic devices.

Terminology in Spintronics
1. GMR
2. Spin Valve 3. Spin Transistor 4. Spin Transfer 5. AMR 6. TMR

Giant MagnetoResistive (GMR)

1988 France, GMR discovery is accepted as

birth of spintronics
A Giant MagnetoResistive device is made of

at least two ferromagnetic layers separated by a spacer layer

When the magnetization of the two outside

layers is aligned, lowest resistance

Conversely when magnetization vectors are

antiparallel, high R
Small fields can produce big effects

parallel and perpendicular current

Spin Valve
Simplest and most successful spintronic device Used in HDD to read information in the form of small

magnetic fields above the disk surface

Datta Das Spin Transistor

The Datta Das Spin Transistor

was first spin device proposed

for metal-oxide geometry, 1989
Emitter

and

collector

are

ferromagnetic
magnetizations

with

parallel

The gate provides magnetic field Current is modulated by the

degree of precession in electron spin

Spin Transfer
V
<S>

M1

M2

The spin of the conduction electron is rotated by its interaction with the magnetization.

This implies the magnetization exerts a torque on the spin. By Conservation of angular momentum, the spin exerts an equal and Opposite torque on the magnetization.

Experimental Proof of Spin Transfer

I Predicted theoretically by Slonczewksi and Berger in 1996

P I I AP

Anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR)

Property of a material in which a dependence of electrical resistance

on the angle between the direction of electric current and direction of magnetization is observed

Tunnel magnetoresistance(TMR)
Tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) is a magnetoresistive effect that

occurs in a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), which is a component consisting of two ferromagnets separated by a thin insulator.

WHICH MATERIAL GIVES OPTIMISTIC VALUE

(MRAM) Magneto resistive RAM

Reading process(ON-State)
Measurement of the bit cell

resistance by applying a current in the bit line

Comparison with a reference

value mid-way between the bit high and low resistance values

Writing process(Off-State)
Currents applied in both lines

: 2 magnetic fields
Both fields are necessary to

reverse the magnetization

free

layer

When currents are removed :

Same configuration

MRAM vs ..

Spintronics capabilities
(1) Hard drives up to 1.2 petabytes with compact capability

Applications

Conclusion
Interest in spintronics arises, in part, from the looming problem

of exhausting the fundamental physical limits of conventional electronics. However, complete reconstruction of industry is unlikely and spintronics is a variation of current technology The spin of the electron has attracted renewed interest because it promises a wide variety of new devices that combine logic, storage and sensor applications. Moreover, these "spintronic" devices might lead to quantum computers and quantum communication based on electronic solid-state devices, thus changing the perspective of information technology in the 21st century.

Queriess.