| Jun 17, 2019 | |
Spintronic revolution in data storage(Nanowerk News) A first generation of spintronic devices based on spin-transfer torque-magnetic tunnel junctions (STT-MTJs) has been developed and commercialized. These devices have replaced existing semiconductor-based working memories due to their excellent capabilities in terms of operation speed and read/write endurance. |
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| Also, they open a pathway to next-generation spintronics based information processing with unprecedented computing capabilities. | |
| The multi-billion-dollar magnetic hard disk drive (HDD) industry has been struggling to scale down the size of the drive due to the size of the writing components. A functional nanoprobe using STT based on out-of-plane magnetized MTJs has the potential to overcome this stumbling block. | |
| To replace the traditional write mechanism based on magnetic fields generated by an electromagnet, it uses the quantum-mechanical effect of spin-transfer torque to write information through a spin-polarized electric current. | |
| To solve the technological bottleneck, an internationally collaborative research team including researchers at the University of Miami and the University of California-Berkeley, at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, has for the first time demonstrated this pioneering concept. | |
| The new technology, published in the journal Applied Physics Letters ("Demonstration of spin transfer torque (STT) magnetic recording"), is a major step towards replacing the current HDD head with a device based on spintronic physics. | |
| “Ultimately we will develop a new field of 'probe' based electronics – probtronics – to solve the scaling issues and this opens a stepping stone to produce a real STT-HDD device,” adds Professor Jeongmin Hong from the School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. |
| Source: Huazhong University of Science and Technology | |
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