Concepts in Spin Electronics

Nowadays information technology is based on semiconductor and feromagnetic materials. Information processing and computation are based on electron charge in semiconductor transistors and integrated circuits, and information is stored on magnetic high-density hard disks based on the physics of the electron spins. Recently, a new branch of physics and nanotechnology, called magneto-electronics, spintronics or spin electronics, has emerged, which aims at simultaneously exploiting both the charge and the spin of electrons in the same device. A broader goal is to develop new functionality that does not exist separately in a ferromagnet or semiconductor. The aim of this book is to present new directions in the development of spin electronics in both the basic physics and the technologywhich will become the foundation of future electronics.

Nowadays information technology is based on semiconductor and ferromagnetic materials. Information processing and computation are based on electron charge in semiconductor transistors and integrated circuits, and information is stored on magnetic high-density hard disks based on the physics of the electron spins. Recently, a new branch of physics and nanotechnology, called magneto-electronics, spintronics, or spin electronics, has emerged, which aims at simultaneously exploiting both the charge and the spin of electrons in the same device. A broader goal is to develop new functionality that does not exist separately in a ferromagnet or a semiconductor. The aim of this book is to present new directions in the development of spin electronics in both the basic physics and the technology which will become the foundation of future electronics.

1 - Optical Phenomena in Magnetic Semiconductors
2 - Bipolar Spintronics
3 - Probing and Manipulating Spin Effects in Quantum Dots
4 - Spin-Dependent Transport in Single-Electron Devices
5 - Spin-Transfer Torques and Nanomagnets
6 - Tunnel Spin Injectors
7 - Theory of Spin-Transfer Torque and Domain Wall Motion in Magnetic Nanostructures
8 - Spin Injection and Spin Transport in Hybrid Nanostructures
9 - Andreev Reflection at Ferromagnet/Superconductor Interfaces

Professor Sadamichi Maekawa Institute for Materials Research Tohoku University Katahira 2-1-1, Aobaku Sendai 980-8577, Japan 2005-present: Honda Professor, Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University 1997-present: Professor, Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University 1988-1997: Professor, Department of Applied Physics, Nagoya University 1984-1988: Associate Professor, Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University 1971-1984: Research Associate, Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University