http://www.physorg.com/news101123360.html

'Spinplasmonics': Researchers create new nanotechnology field

A University of Alberta research team has combined two fields of study in
nanotechnology to create a third field that the researchers believe will
lead to revolutionary advances in computer electronics, among many other
areas.
Dr. Abdulhakem Elezzabi and his colleagues have applied plasmonics
principles to spintronics technology and created a novel way to control the
quantum state of an electron's spin.

The new technology, which the researchers call spinplasmonics, may be used
to create incredibly efficient electron spin-based photonic devices, which
in turn may be used to build, for example, computers with extraordinary
capacities.

"We've only just begun to scratch the surface of this field, but we believe
we have the physics sorted out and one day this technology will be used to
develop very fast, very small electronics that have a very low power
consumption," said Elezzabi, the Canada Research Chair in Ultrafast
Photonics and Nano-Optics and an electrical and computer engineering
professor at the U of A.

Elezzabi's work addresses a number of challenges that, to this point, have
hindered further advancement in computer electronics, such as in the
creation of smaller devices. One such challenge is that as traditional,
silicon-based semiconductor devices approach the nanoscale, the laws of
quantum physics take control over their performance (specifically the flow
of charges-i.e. electrons) and render them inoperable.

Researchers in the field of spintronics have tried to address this problem
by building metal-based devices that harness the magnetic quantum properties
of the spin of electrons. Although the spintronics field is barely a dozen
years-old, some devices that incorporate spintronics technology are already
on the market.

The field of plasmonics, which is even younger than spintronics, involves
the transfer of light electromagnetic energy into a tiny volume, thus
creating intense electric fields-a phenomenon that has many scientists
rethinking the laws of electromagnetics on a nanoscale. The plasmonics field
has many wide-ranging applications, from guiding light through metal wires,
to bio-sensing, to making objects invisible to the eye.

One of the main challenges for plasmonics researchers is finding a way to
propagate light over a long distance through solid materials. However,
Elezzabi and his colleagues, U of A graduate student Kenneth Chau and Dr.
Mark Johnson of the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory, have successfully
combined plasmonics and spintronics in a way that puts plasmonics in a new
light, and puts a new spin on spintronics.

Working with gold and cobalt samples, Elezzabi and his team were able to
demonstrate a plasmonically-activated spintronic device that switches light
on and off by controlling electron spins. Also, they believe that with a
slight alteration of the sample structure the effect is non-volatile,
meaning that any given result can be maintained indefinitely without the
necessity of a power source.

"With the development of this technology I envision a move from
semiconductors [silicon chips] to metal based electronics with light-driven
circuits," Elezzabi said.

The research was published recently in the academic journal Physical Review
Letters, and the researchers have filed for a patent for the applications
they have developed.

"To me this is almost a natural evolution of the two fields. I'm actually
surprised that no one else looked around and saw what others were doing and
combined the two before we did," Elezzabi added. "This opens up a lot of
possibilities; this is just the beginning."

Source: University of Alberta

-- 

Ken

"Buddhism elucidates why we are sentient."
"Buddhism follows thought throughout the Universe."
"Karma means that you don't get away with anything."