The rapidly emerging field of “Spintronics” is based on the use of electron spin instead of electron charge as the property on which the operation of a new generation of microelectronic devices is based. The term “spin” comes from the property of electron spin, which is the basis of ferromagnetism. Electron spin is already the basis for magnetoresistive sensors that have revolutionized the hard disk drive industry. If spin-based materials can be used to replace DRAMs and perform processor logic operations, revolutionary changes in the entire computer industry may follow. Because these devices would operate on the electron spin, rather than the electron charge as in conventional electronics, they may be much faster, denser, and smaller than current charge-based electronics. In our current work on Spintronics, we are fabricating and testing structures for perpendicular spin-transfer-torque magnetoresistive-random-access memory (STT-MRAM) that may replace DRAM in the coming decade.

 

key words

DRAM; Electron; Electron tunneling; Film; Magnetic; Magnetorsistance; Microelectronics; MRAM; Semiconductor; Spin;

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral applicants