AIP Publishing LLC
AIP Publishing LLC
  • pubs.aip.org
  • AIP
  • AIP China
  • University Science Books
  • Resources
    • Researchers
    • Librarians
    • Publishing Partners
    • Topical Portfolios
    • Commercial Partners
  • Publications

    Find the Right Journal

    Explore the AIP Publishing collection by title, topic, impact, citations, and more.
    Browse Journals

    Latest Content

    Read about the newest discoveries and developments in the physical sciences.
    See What's New

    Publications

    • Journals
    • Books
    • Physics Today
    • AIP Conference Proceedings
    • Scilight
    • Find the Right Journal
    • Latest Content
  • About
    • About Us
    • News and Announcements
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Leadership
    • Contact
  • pubs.aip.org
  • AIP
  • AIP China
  • University Science Books

A New Spin on Spintronics

  • February 12, 2015
  • Applied Physics Letters
  • News
Share:

Michigan team tests radiation-resistant spintronic material, possibly enabling electronic devices that will work in harsh environments

WASHINGTON D.C., February 17, 2015 – A team of researchers from the University of Michigan and Western Michigan University is exploring new materials that could yield higher computational speeds and lower power consumption, even in harsh environments.

Most modern electronic circuitry relies on controlling electronic charge within a circuit, but this control can easily be disrupted in the presence of radiation, interrupting information processing. Electronics that use spin-based logic, or spintronics, may offer an alternative that is robust even in radiation-filled environments.

Making a radiation-resistant spintronic device requires a material relevant for spintronic applications that can maintain its spin-dependence after it has been irradiated. In a paper published in the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, the Michigan research team presents their results using bulk Si-doped n-GaAs exposed to proton radiation.

A laser pulse is split into two pathsHow Does Spintronics Work?

Modern electronic devices use charges to transmit and store information, primarily based upon how many electrons are in one place or another. When a lot of them are at a given terminal, you can call that ‘on.’ If you have very few of them at the same terminal, you can call that ‘off,’ just like a light switch. This allows for binary logic depending on whether the terminal is ‘on’ or ‘off.’ Spintronics, at its simplest, uses the ‘on/off’ idea, but instead of counting the electrons, their spin is measured. 

“You can think of the spin of an electron as a tiny bar magnet with an arrow painted on it. If the arrow points up, we call that ‘spin-up.’ If it points down, we call that ‘spin-down.’ By using light, electric, or magnetic fields, we can manipulate, and measure, the spin direction,” said researcher Brennan Pursley, who is the first author of the new study.

While spintronics holds promise for faster and more efficient computation, researchers also want to know whether it would be useful in harsh environments. Currently, radioactivity is a major problem for electronic circuitry because it can scramble information and in the long term degrade electronic properties. For the short term effects, spintronics should be superior: radioactivity can change the quantity of charge in a circuit, but should not affect spin-polarized carriers.

Studying spintronic materials required that the research team combine two well established fields: the study of spin dynamics and the study of radiation damage. Both tool sets are quite robust and have been around for decades but combining the two required sifting through the wealth of radiation damage research. “That was the most difficult aspect,” explains Pursley. “It was an entirely new field for us with a variety of established techniques and terminology to learn. The key was to tackle it like any new project: ask a lot of questions, find a few good books or papers, and follow the citations.”

Technically, what the Michigan team did was to measure the spin properties of n-GaAs as a function of radiation fluence using time-resolved Kerr rotation and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Results show that the spin lifetime and g-factor of bulk n-GaAs is largely unaffected by proton irradiation making it a candidate for further study for radiation-resistant spintronic devices. The team plans to study other spintronic materials and prototype devices after irradiation since the hybrid field of irradiated spintronics is wide open with plenty of questions to tackle.

Long term, knowledge of radiation effects on spintronic devices will aid in their engineering. A practical implementation would be processing on a communications satellite where without the protection of Earth’s atmosphere, electronics can be damaged by harsh solar radiation. The theoretically achievable computation speeds and low power consumption could be combined with compact designs and relatively light shielding. This could make communications systems faster, longer-lived and cheaper to implement.

###

For More Information:
Jason Socrates Bardi
+1 240-535-4954
jbardi@aip.org
@jasonbardi

Article Title

Robustness of n-GaAs carrier spin properties to 5MeV proton radiation

Authors

Brennan Pursley, X. Song, R.O. Torres-Isea, E.A. Bokari, A. Kayani and V. Sih

Author Affiliations

University of Michigan and Western Michigan University


Applied Physics Letters

Applied Physics Letters features concise, rapid reports on significant new findings in applied physics. The journal covers new experimental and theoretical research on applications of physics phenomena related to all branches of science, engineering, and modern technology.
Share:
  • Novel Solid-State Nanomaterial Platform Enables Terahertz Photonics
  • Potential New Breathalyzer for Lung Cancer Screening

Keep Up With AIP Publishing

Sign up for the AIP newsletter to receive the latest news and information from AIP Publishing.
Sign Up

AIP PUBLISHING

1305 Walt Whitman Road,
Suite 110
Melville, NY 11747
(516) 576-2200

Resources

  • Researchers
  • Librarians
  • Publishing Partners
  • Commercial Partners

About

  • About Us
  • Careers 
  • Leadership

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Terms Of Use
  • Privacy Policy

© 2025 AIP Publishing LLC
  • 𝕏