Spintronics without ferromagnetic materials

Spintronics usually uses ferromagnetic materials to achieve net spin polarization of an electric current. INAC researchers recently used a Rashba magnetic field to do the opposite. They used the field to recover spin information electrically at the interface between two non-magnetic thin-layer materials, bismuth and silver.
This basic mechanism could now be used to produce or detect spin currents or to control magnetization according to the intensity of the spin flow. Another possible use could be to harvest energy by injecting a spin current between two materials presenting a temperature gradient.
The research was conducted with the CNRS and Thales in conjunction with University of Zaragoza as part of a program funded by the French National Research Agency.

Contact: laurent.vila@cea.fr

Facebook

Twitter