Researchers at Ohio State University have demonstrated
the first plastic computer memory device that utilizes the
spin of electrons to read and write data, an alternative
to traditional microelectronics, so-called spintronics
could store more data in less space, process data faster,
and consume less power.
In the August 2010 issue of the journal Nature Materials,
Arthur J. Epstein and colleagues describe how they created
a prototype plastic spintronic device using techniques found
in the mainstream computer industry today.
Epstein, Distinguished University Professor of physics
and chemistry and director of the Institute for Magnetic
and Electronic Polymers at Ohio State, described the material
as a hybrid of a semiconductor that is made from organic
materials and a special magnetic polymer semiconductor.
As such, it is a bridge between todays computers and
the all-polymer, spintronic computers that he and his partners
hope to enable in the future.
Normal electronics encode computer data based on a binary
code of ones and zeros, depending on whether an electron
is present in a void within the material. But researchers
have long known that electrons can be polarized to orient
in particular directions, like a bar magnet. They refer
to this orientation as spin -- either spin up
or spin down -- and have been working on a way
to store data using spin. The resulting electronics, dubbed
spintronics, would effectively let computers store and transfer
twice as much data per electron.
Spintronics is often just seen as a way to get more
information out of an electron, but really its about
moving to the next generation of electronics, Epstein
said. We could solve many of the problems facing computers
today by using spintronics. Our main achievement
is that we applied this polymer-based magnet semiconductor
as a spin polarizer -- meaning we could save data (spin
up and down) on it using a tiny magnetic field -- and a
spin detector -- meaning we could read the data back,
he said. Now we are closer to constructing a device
from all-organic material.
We would love to take portable electronics to a spin
platform, Epstein said. Think about soldiers
in the field who have to carry heavy battery packs, or even
civilian road warriors commuting to meetings.
If we had a lighter weight spintronic device which operates
itself at a lower energy cost, and if we could make it on
a flexible polymer display, soldiers and other users could
just roll it up and carry it. We see this portable technology
as a powerful platform for helping people.
The magnetic polymer semiconductor in this study, vanadium
tetracyanoethanide, is the first organic-based magnet that
operates above room temperature. It was developed by Epstein
and his long-standing collaborator Joel S. Miller of the
University of Utah