The spin wave
remains trapped in the domain wall, which is formed in the middle
between the
differently oriented magnetizations. Researchers at the HZDR could
thus control its
propagation purposefully. Foto: HZDR/H. Schultheiß
(February 1, 2016) Researchers
in Dresden develop process for controlling innovative information media
The success story of information processing by way of moving
electrons is slowly coming to an end. The trend towards more and more compact
chips constitutes a major challenge for manufacturers, since the increasing
miniaturization creates partly unsolvable physical problems. This is why
magnetic spin waves could be the future: they are faster than electronic charge
carriers and use less power. Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum
Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and TU Dresden have developed a method for
controlling the propagation of these information carriers at the nanolevel in a
targeted and simple way; so far, this required a lot of power. They have thus
created a basis for nanocircuits that use spin waves.
"Our current information processing is based on
electrons," explains Dr. Helmut Schultheiß from the HZDR's Institute of
Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research. "These charged particles flow
through the wires, creating electric currents. Yet in the process they collide
with atoms and lose energy, which escapes into the crystal lattice in the form
of heat. This means that chips get all the warmer, the closer the elements on
them are grouped together. Eventually they fail, because the heat cannot be
conveyed anymore." This is why Schultheiß, head of an Emmy Noether Junior
Research Group, pursues a different approach: information transport via spin
waves, also known as magnons.