Features:
SPINTRONICS HOPED TO YIELD NEW BREED OF TECHNOLOGY
By manipulating electrons' magnetic spin, IBM and Stanford University hope to
create a new breed of energy saving tools.
Spintronics, a growing technological field, examines the storage and
processing benefits that electron magnetic properties may afford.
Traditionally, chips and transistors, which rely on electrical charges, have
been the medium for data storage and transfer. Yet scientists controlling the
magnetic orientation of electrons have found new ways to do these things.
To create improved hard-disk heads, IBM has utilized spintronics already. It
is hoped such technology could lead to more energy efficient computers with
increased data storage capabilities. Spintronics will also allow more
possibilities as scientists are busy trying to build smaller and smaller
semiconductors.
Stanford professors, IBM researchers and graduate students will run a new
center to study spintronics. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA), the Department of Energy (DoE) and the National Science Foundation
(NSF) will help to fund the research.
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