It Does Matter How You Spin it - Spintronics Could be Answer to Future Semiconductor Technologies

[Raevenlord]

It's only a matter of time before microchip production as we know it disappears entirely, at least for leading-edge tech designs. Either via new materials applied to trusted techniques (such as carbon coating/nanotubes) or entirely new and exotic fabrication technologies, we're rapidly approaching the limits of traditional silicon-based microchips. One solution to the problem, as it stands, might be found in spintronics - an interesting concept which bases processing and data retention not simply on whether current is being applied to a given transistor (as is the case for current silicon chips), but on a property of electrons called spin. Crucially, changing the magnetic orientation of electrons requires but a single charge, instead of a continued supply of power - which allows for much lower power consumption and heat output, two of the encroaching, limiting factors for the usual chips.





Researchers at MIT and at Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated such an approach. Using hydrogen atoms, they've been able to create a spintronic device that has survived more than 2,000 write cycles (a far cry from the usual handful of attempts sustained by the approach when researchers were using oxygen atoms, which are much bigger in molecular terms than hydrogen is). This could allow for processing materials that retain their last state without any additional power requirements - when the workload requires them to be in the other, polar state, a tiny charge is then applied, and the cycle repeats. Essentially, the intention is "trying to make a magnetic analog of a transistor," which can be turned on and off repeatedly without degrading its physical properties.

"When you pump hydrogen toward the magnet, the magnetization rotates," said graduate student Aik Jun Tan, with the MIT team. "You can actually toggle the direction of the magnetization by 90 degrees by applying a voltage - and it's fully reversible." Since the orientation of the poles of the magnet is what is used to store information, this means it is possible to easily write and erase data "bits" in spintronic devices using this effect.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Vayra86]

This is starting to sound like the next best battery technology. Dozens of papers and no product.

 

[R-T-B]

This is starting to sound like the next best battery technology. Dozens of papers and no product.

That's how it always sounds on a diffilcult scientific problem.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

That's how it always sounds on a diffilcult scientific problem.

A bit like quantom, optronics and Intel's 10nm some things require extraordinarily high intelligence and effort to get to grips with, that's fundamentally why some think silicon is an alien invention, something I can heartily deny from the home of computers Manchester.

 

[Raevenlord]

A bit like quantom, optronics and Intel's 10nm some things require extraordinarily high intelligence and effort to get to grips with, that's fundamentally why some think silicon is an alien invention, something I can heartily deny from the home of computers Manchester.

Sorry, don't believe you. All modern technology derives from reverse-engineering Autobot tech, everybody knows that.

 

[R-T-B]

A bit like quantom, optronics and Intel's 10nm some things require extraordinarily high intelligence and effort to get to grips with, that's fundamentally why some think silicon is an alien invention, something I can heartily deny from the home of computers Manchester.

We frogs were lightyears ahead of you, once. We just realized it's easier to be lazy in a cool pond.

 

[Bones]

While you guys were bumming around in your pool, the rest of us had to fend off an invasion of Quaggaar warriors hell bent on roasting all of us to death.

The left-overs of this invasion is where the tidbits came from we reverse-engineered. Could have been autobots but I believe it was the Quaggaars.
Want to know more about them?

Here's rare historical footage about them straight from the archives along with some other things too, included in the vid.

 

[hat]

While you guys were bumming around in your pool, the rest of us had to fend off an invasion of Quaggaar warriors hell bent on roasting all of us to death.

The left-overs of this invasion is where the tidbits came from we reverse-engineered. Could have been autobots but I believe it was the Quaggaars.
Want to know more about them?

Here's rare historical footage about them straight from the archives along with some other things too, included in the vid.

Are you sure your sanity chip is fully screwed in, sir?

 

[Bones]

@hat No way - I like living right on the edge.

To the topic at hand - I don't believe we'll see this anywhere mainstream within the next decade. It's obviously a fresh discovery and takes time to fully research what ways would work best and to figure out what materials are best too as the article makes clear.

We're already dabbling in VR and ray tracing tech along with self learning AI, who knows what will be next?
Any of this makes my little old SNES console look like a rock a caveman used to have fun with.