Theme 1: Spin Logic Devices

This theme will focus on spin based logic devices and their coupling to the electronic world.

Research into spin transistors began in 1988 and has rapidly evolved into the field of spintronics over the past decades, which promises the possibility of integration of the memory and the logic functions to a single device. The first such attempt was Johnson’s all-metal three-terminal device, which had a third terminal added to the middle paramagnetic layer of a GMR multilayer structure. The second variant, based on the proposal by Datta and Das has been attempted. Both the Johnson and the Datta/Das device utilize a dependence of spin on the carrier transport (including conduction, injection efficiency, and relaxation time) to control the current flow through a device. These critical dependencies are still being challenged and explored. However, in WIN Theme 1, we plan to go beyond such popular and well investigated spin devices to more usefull and integratable proof of concept devices. The theme consists of novel spin based device projects that includes gated spin wave devices, magnetic quantum dot logic, spin write and spin read devices that utilize phenomena such as the spin hall and spin torque effects. The theme leader is Jim Allen (UCSB).