Spintronics - A Retrospective and Perspective

Stuart Wolf, University of Virginia

Spintronics is a rapidly emerging field of science and technology that will most likely have a major impact on the future of electronics beyond Moore's Law. Conventional electronics are based solely on electron charge. Using spin to compliment and perhaps ultimately supplant charge is the basis for the major interest in spintronics. Initially the DARPA Spintronics program oversaw the development of an advanced magnetic memory based on spin dependent tunneling. This program was expanded to include Spins in Semiconductors (SPINS) in the hope of developing a new paradigm in semiconductor electronics based on the spin degree of freedom of the electron. Studies of spin polarized transp[ort in bulk and low dimensional semiconductors show significant promise fro the creation of new devices that could combine memory and logic in effect a spin memory transistor. This talk will review the developments to date and also provide a brief perspective of what we think will be the cards for the future.

The P/T Colloquium is
typically held each
Thursday, 3:45–5:00 PM.
Refreshments are served
at 3:15 PM.