Spintronics

Why in the News?

• Scientists at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali (Punjab), an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, have produced an ultra-high mobility 2d-electron gas (2DEG) at the interface of two insulating oxide layers.

About

• Spintronic, also known as spin electronics, is the study of the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-state devices

• Spintronics fundamentally differs from traditional electronics in that, in addition to charge state, electron spins are exploited as a further degree of freedom, with implications in the efficiency of data storage and transfer

• The field of spintronics emerged because of the need for attaining new functionalities in modern electronic devices which has led to the manipulation of the property of an electron called spin degree of freedom along with its charge

• A phenomenon called the ‘Rashba effect’, which consists of splitting of spin-bands in an electronic system, might play a key role in spintronic devices

Rashba Effect

• The Rashba effect, or Rashba-Dresselhaus effect, is a momentum-dependent splitting of spin bands in two-dimensional condensed matter systems

• Discovered in 1959, the phenomenon continues to supply fertile ground for fundamental research and applications

• It provided the basis for the proposal of the spin transistor by Datta and Das in 1990, which has largely inspired the broad and dynamic field of spintronics

• More recent developments include new materials for the Rashba effect such as metal surfaces, interfaces and bulk materials