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Silicon spintronics

Nature Materials volume 11, pages 400–408 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Worldwide efforts are underway to integrate semiconductors and magnetic materials, aiming to create a revolutionary and energy-efficient information technology in which digital data are encoded in the spin of electrons. Implementing spin functionality in silicon, the mainstream semiconductor, is vital to establish a spin-based electronics with potential to change information technology beyond imagination. Can silicon spintronics live up to the expectation? Remarkable advances in the creation and control of spin polarization in silicon suggest so. Here, I review the key developments and achievements, and describe the building blocks of silicon spintronics. Unexpected and puzzling results are discussed, and open issues and challenges identified. More surprises lie ahead as silicon spintronics comes of age.

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Figure 1: Silicon spintronics.
Figure 2: Spin injection into silicon from ferromagnetic tunnel contacts at low temperature.
Figure 3: Creation of spin polarization in silicon at room temperature.
Figure 4: Spin lifetime in n-type Si.
Figure 5: Thermal spin current from a ferromagnet to silicon by Seebeck spin tunnelling.

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Acknowledgements

I thank H. Saito, S. Yuasa and K. Ando for critical reading of the manuscript and useful comments.

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  1. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Spintronics Research Center, Umezono 1-1-1, Tsukuba, 305-8568, Ibaraki, Japan

    Ron Jansen

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Jansen, R. Silicon spintronics. Nature Mater 11, 400–408 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3293

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