420 likes | 774 Views
MADESH GURIKAR U. SPINTRONICS & ITS APPLICATION. Contents . Introduction & History. Spintronics. GMR. TMR. MRAM. Other applications. Future of spintronics. Introduction & History. Spintronics- concerned with manipulation,
E N D
MADESH GURIKAR U SPINTRONICS & ITS APPLICATION
Contents • Introduction & History. • Spintronics. • GMR. • TMR. • MRAM. • Other applications. • Future of spintronics.
Introduction & History • Spintronics- concerned with manipulation, storage and transfer of information by means of electron spin along with the electron charge. • History – Introduced in 1996 • Coined by Dr S.Wolf. • Originally was Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) program.
Spintronics A multidisciplinary field
Defination: • Spintronics also known as magnetoelectroni-cs, is an emerging technology that exploits the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-state devices.
Concept: • Electrons are spin-1/2 fermions and therefore constitute a two-state system with spin "up" and spin "down". • Instead of solely relying on the electron’s negative charge to manipulate electron motion or to store information, spintronic devices would further rely on the electron’s spin degree of freedom
Theory: • Spin angular momentum, or simply spin, is one of the Fundamental properties of electrons. • Electrons with different spins experience different resistance in a magnetized conductor. • This phenomenon causes giant magnetoresistance effect in ferromagnetic metal layers.
Nature of electron spin • The direction of spin is specified by the component of S Along particular axis given by S = mh m= spin magnetic number m= ½ or -1/2. h=planck’s constant.
When m s =1/2 the electron is said to “spin up”, and “spin down” otherwise.
The binary directional state of spin seems to make electron spin a perfect quantity for computer information storage and processing. • One bit of information is a binary state, represented usually by one and zero. • we let spin up represent one and spin down zero (or the other way around), then one electron can carry one bit of information.
Spin Measurement: • The magnetic moment µ associated with spin enables to manipulate and measure spin. • µ = spin magnetic moment µ = γs γ = -2.00232 e/2m. s = spin angular momentum.
The interaction between spin magnetic moment and an external magnetic field provides a way to measure S
The force F on a particular atom depends on S of that atom’s valence electron, and is given by F = γα s. α = a is a constant whose value depends on how inhomogeneous the magnetic field is. The entire set up --Stern-Gerlach apparatus
Primary requirments: • SPIN INJECTOR -Generate a current of spin-polarized electrons comprising more of one spin species—up or down. • SPIN DETECTOR -Separate system that is sensitive to the spin polarization of the electrons. • Manipulation of the electron spin during transport between injector and detector
GMR: • Gaint Magnetoresistance. • It is a quantum mechanical magnetoresistance effect observed in thin film structures composed of alternating ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic layers. • Result- significant decrease (typically 10–80%) in electrical resistance in the presence of a magnetic field.
In the absence of an external magnetic field resistance offered is very very high.
Types of GMR: • Multilayer GMR: Two or more ferromagnetic layers are separated by a very thin (about 1 nm) non-ferromagnetic spacer. e.g. Fe/Cr/Fe • Spin Valve GMR: Multilayer structure incorporating a “magnetically hard,” or pinned, ferromagnetic layer on top.
pSeudo Spin Valve: The significant difference is the coercivities of the ferromagnetic layers. A soft magnet will be used for one layer; where as a hard ferromagnet will be used for the other
Granular GMR: Occurs in solid precipitates of a magnetic material To date, granular GMR has only been observed in matrices of copper containing cobalt granules
TMR: • Tunnel Magnetoresistance - occurs in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). • A component consisting of two ferromagnets separated by a thin insulator. • If the insulating layer is thin enough (typically a few nanometers), electrons can tunnel from one ferromagnet into the other.
Phenomenological Description • The direction of the two magnetizations of the ferromagnetic films can be switched individually by an external magnetic field. • If the magnetizations are in a parallel orientation it is more likely that electrons will tunnel through the insulating film than if they are in the oppositional (antiparallel) orientation.
Physical Explanation • The relative resistance change—or effect amplitude—is defined as Rap - electrical resistance in the anti-parallel state. Rp - resistance in the parallel state.
The spin polarization P is calculated from the spin dependent density of states (DOS) at the Fermi energy
MRAM (magnetoresistive RAM) • MRAM data is not stored as electric charge or current flows, but by magnetic storage elements. • The elements are formed from two ferromagnetic plates, each of which can hold a magnetic field, separated by a thin insulating layer.
One of the two plates is a permanent magnet set to a particular polarity, the other's field will change to match that of an external field.
READ:accomplished by measuring the electrical resistance of the cell. • A particular cell is (typically) selected by powering an associated transistor which switches current from a supply line through the cell to ground.
WRITE: each cell lies between a pair of write lines arranged at right angles to each other, above and below the cell. • When current is passed through them, an induced magnetic field is created at the junction, which the writable plate picks up.
ADVANTAGES: • Non volatile. • High speed. • Low voltage operation. • Unlimited Endurance. • Reliable.
DISADVANTAGE: As the device is scaled down in size, there comes a time when the induced field overlaps adjacent cells over a small area, leading to potential false writes – HALF SELECT.
Complication: • Tunnel Barrier: • Is very thin(<2nm):Resistance and the change in resistance R and delta R depends on Barrier thickness. • MicroMagnetic Effects. • Thermal Stability issues for small bits. • Caution for Half-selected bits switching via thermal activation.
1D Magnetic Selection • A high current of either polarity (plus current for a "1" and negative current for a "0" is passed through a select transistor and through the memory cell to write. • Only a small current can be used to read the cell.
FUTURE: • In the future we will have devices that are hybrid charge and spin based devices. • Spintronics holds the hope for the development of Quantum Computers. • Spintronics will produce batteries which last much longer, recharge times will be reduced drastically, and devices like laptops will have instant ‘ON’.
References: • S A Wolf, D DAwschalom, P A Buhrman, J M Daughton, M L von MolnaRoukes, A Y Chtchelnakova and D M Treger, Spintronics : a spin-based electronics vision for the future, Science , Vol.294, p.1488,2001. • S. Das Sarma. “Spintronics,” American Scientist, Vol. 89, pp518, Nov.-Dec. 2001. • http://physik.kfunigraz.ac.at/~jaf/research/spintronics/spintronics.html • http://www.physics.umd.edu/rgroups/spin/intro.html • http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1131718,00.html • http://www.wun.ac.uk/spintronics/ • http://www.worldscibooks.com/nanosci/7281.html • http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-spintronics.htm • http://news.stanford.edu/pr/03/zhang820.html • http://newton.ex.ac.uk/research/emag/spintronics/