A breakthrough for the field of Spintronics, a new type of technology which it is widely believed could be the basis of a future revolution in computing, has been announced by scientists in Cambridge.
Cambridge University News, 15 January 2014
Superconductors – materials which, when cooled below a certain temperature, can carry a current without losing energy – provide one potential solution to this. If these materials could be harnessed in spin-based devices, an energy-efficient source for the charge required to create spin currents could be provided.
Until relatively recently, scientists believed that superconductors and spintronics were incompatible. The new study breaks new ground by showing, for the first time, that the natural spin of electrons can be manipulated, and more importantly detected, within the current flowing from a superconductor. The results could pave the way for the use of superconductors in spintronics, making these devices more energy-efficient.