“Valleytronics” make spintronics even better

An international team led by researchers from INAC recently demonstrated that, in SOI transistors, electronic spin alignment under an outside magnetic field is much easier when restricted to a single “valley.”

The valley index is a quantum number that shows the relationship between the energy and amount of electron movement within the silicon on a curve characterized by two minimums known as valleys. The valley index is well-known to researchers; however, it had not been used since the invention of the transistor in 1947.

With the emergence of so-called “valleytronics,” spintronics could now have a very handy new tool for controlling spin. The research was published in Nature Communications.

Contact: vincent.renard@cea.fr

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