NIMS Develops New Spintronics Device, Tokyo University of Science

　Electronics used everywhere, including computers and smartphones, are technologies that utilize the "charge" property of electrons.On the other hand, a new technical field called spintronics, which utilizes "spin", which is another property of electrons, is being actively researched.If it is put into practical use, it is expected that information communication that consumes almost no energy and high density storage media will be possible.On the other hand, the technology for freely manipulating the spin of electrons in matter is under development, and the development of devices capable of this is urgently needed.The ones that have already been developed use liquids, so there is a problem of liquid leakage, and it is difficult to put them into practical use.

　The group has developed an element that can control spin by stacking three solid substances, iron oxide, lithium silicate, and lithium cobalt oxide.By applying a voltage, lithium ions in lithium silicate can be moved inside iron oxide.This makes it possible to control the spin of electrons in iron oxide.Compared to conventional devices, it has the advantage of being able to control spin with low power consumption.Furthermore, since it is composed only of solids, there is no need to worry about liquid leakage.In addition, because of its simple structure, it is easy to achieve high integration by applying existing semiconductor substrate processing technology.

　It will take some time before it becomes a product such as computer memory, but it will be a big step forward.In the future, based on this result, it is planned to proceed to demonstration experiments for practical use such as technological development of high integration.