A whole group of materials suitable for spintronics
The word Spintrónica is fashionable in laboratories, it is a technique that could replace electronics in the future, faster and more powerful. But this technique can only be exploited in some materials. Now, an international group of physicists has identified and developed a whole family of materials suitable for spintronics. The theoretical part of the work has been done by physicists of the CFM and DIPC centers of Donostia.
The materials are topological insulators, and in addition to their characteristics for spintronic, they have a special way of driving electricity: they are electrical insulators inside and conductors on the surface, for an topological insulators because they conduct electricity according to the geometry.
“These materials were found in 2005, first theoretically and then experimentally, and they are already known,” explains Nora González, head of communication at DIPC. “But now we have seen that there is a large team of this material suitable for use in spintronics.”
Spintronics uses electron spin instead of electric charge. However, this requires the ability to control a series of electrons with the same spin. The international group of physicists has found that most orderly ternary compounds, complexes formed by three types of atoms, are topological insulators that can be used in spintronic.
Knowing this, materials with magnetic properties – associated with specific electrical spins – can be designed. According to González, these materials “can be technologically decisive.”
González explained this discovery on the radio show Norteko Ferrokarrilla.
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