1

“SPINTRONICS”
BY-
SRINIVASA B(15LE6EC099)
ECE

UNDER THE GUIDANCE

DR. HARIPRASAD S A
DIRECTOR
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
JAIN DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY
Contents 2

 Introduction
 Principle
 Spintronic Device
 MRAM
 Spin Transistor
 Quantum Computer
 Applications
 Advantages and Disadvantages
 Future Scope
 Conclusion
 References
Introduction 3
Introduction 4

 Spintronics is the branch of science which deals with spin of electron.

 It refers to the study of the role played by the electron spin in solid
state physics. Spin of electron can be either -1/2 or +1/2.
 It promises new logic devices which enhances functionality, high
speed and reduced power consumption.
 Conventional electronic devices ignore the spin property
 As electronic devices become smaller, quantum properties of the
wavelike nature of electrons are no longer negligible
 Spintronic devices offer the possibility of enhanced functionality,
higher speed, and reduced power consumption
 Information is stored into spin as one of two possible orientations
Electronics v/s Spintronics 5

Electronics
Power failure problem.
‘Boot-up’ waiting problem in
electronic system.
More power consumption.
Less compact
Normal speed
Based on number of charge
and their energy
Spintronics
Power failure problem.
‘Boot-up’ waiting problem in
electronic system.
Less power consumption.
More compact
High speed
Based on direction of spin and
spin coupling
Principle 6

 Spintronics is based on the spin of electrons rather than its charge.

 Every electron exist in one of the 2 states-spin up and spin-down,
with spins either positive half or negative half.
Principle 7

 The two possible spin states represent ‘0’ and ‘1’ in logical operations.
 The orientation of N-S axis depends on the particle ‘s axis of spin
 In ordinary materials, the up magnetic moments cancel the down
magnetic moment so no surplus moment piles up.
 Ferro-magnetic materials like iron, cobalt and
nickel is needed for designing of spin electronic devices.
 These have tiny regions called domains in which an excess of electrons
have spins with axis pointing either up or down.
 The domains are randomly scattered and evenly divided between
majority-up and majority down.
 But, an externally applied magnetic field will line up the domains in the
direction of the field. This results in permanent magnet.
Spintronic Device 8

Two spin devices have been fabricated in industries. They are as follows:-

 GMR [Giant Magneto Resistance]

 MTJ [Magnetic Tunnel Junction]
GMR [Giant Magnetoresistance] 9
GMR (Giant Magnetoresistance) 10

 1988 France, GMR discovery is accepted as birth of spintronics

 A Giant Magnetoresistive device is made of at least two
ferromagnetic layers separated by a spacer layer
 The basic GMR device consists of a layer of non-magnetic metal
between 2 magnetic layers
 A current consisting of spin-up and spin-down electrons is passed
through the layers.
 When the magnetization of the two outside layers is aligned, lowest
resistance
 Conversely when magnetization vectors are antiparallel, high R
 Small fields can produce big effects
 parallel and perpendicular current
MTJ [Magnetic Tunnel Junction] 11
MTJ [Magnetic Tunnel Junction] 12

 The structure of MTJ is very simple with two Ferro magnetic layers
separates by a semiconductor layer.
 As said earlier the direction of spin decides the resistance of the
device.
 The Semiconductor is often called Tunnel Barrier as it acts as the
barrier between two Ferro magnetic layers.
 If the resistance is high then the number electrons tunneling are low
and if the resistance is low then the electrons tunneling are high
MRAM [Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory ] 13
MRAM [Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory ] 14

 MRAMs do not lose stored information once the power is turned off
 MRAM is based on integration of magnetic tunnel junction (MJT).
Magnetic tunnel junction is a three-layered device having a thin
insulating layer between two metallic Ferro-magnets
 MRAM uses magnetic storage elements instead of electric used in
conventional RAM
 Tunnel junctions are used to read the information stored in
Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory, typically a”0” for zero
point magnetization state and “1” for antiparallel state
 Attempts were made to control bit writing by using relatively large
currents to produce fields
 The spin transfer mechanism can be used to write to the magnetic
memory cells
Spin Transistor 15
Spin Transistor 16

 Ideal use of MRAM would utilize control of the spin channels of the
current
 Spin transistors would allow control of the spin current in the same
manner that conventional transistors can switch charge currents
 Using arrays of these spin transistors, MRAM will combine storage,
detection, logic and communication capabilities on a single chip
 This will remove the distinction between working memory and
storage, combining functionality of many devices into one
Application 17

 Fast and accurate position and motion sensing

of mechanical components in precision engineering and robotics.
 Missile Guidance
 Position and motion sensing in computer video games.
 Key Hole Surgery and post operative care.
 Automotive sensors for fuel handling system, speed control and
navigation etc..
 The Magnetic version of RAM used in computer is non volatile.
 Other advantages of MRAM’s include small size, lower cost, faster
speed and less power consumption, robust in extreme conditions
such as high temperature, high level radiation and interference.
 GMR sensors find a wide range of applications
Application 18

 Perform multiple calculations simultaneously.

 Each qubit assume wide range of values.
 Can hold insane quantity of information.
 Quantum computer can provide untold power, many times faster
than any classical computer.
Advantages of spintronics 19

 Non-volatile memory
 Performance improves with smaller devices
 Low power consumption
 Spintronics does not require unique and specialised semiconductors
 Dissipation less transmission
 Switching time is very less
 compared to normal RAM chips, spintronic RAM chips will:
– increase storage densities by a factor of three
– have faster switching and rewritability rates smaller
 Binary spin polarization offers the possibility of applications as qubit
in quantum computers
Disadvantages 20

 Controlling spin for long distance.

 Difficult to measure spin.
 Interference with nearest field.
 Practical application of spintronics needs room temperature
ferromagnet in semiconductors, which is big challenge.
Conclusion 21

 Advantages of spintronic devices over the present electronic

devices.
 It replaces present electronics era and provides high speed, huge
size, compactness and so on.
 GMR is the base to switch from electronics to spintronics.
 The magnetic field on the earth may affect the magnetic field
inside the spin devices and cause errors.
Future Scope 22

 Spintronics is one of the most challenging and fascinating areas in

nanotechnology.
 Efforts by researchers from diverse fields including physics, chemistry,
biology, materials science and engineering are absolutely
necessary.
REFERENCES 23

 Wolf, S. A.; Chtchelkanova, A. Y.; Treger, D. M. (2006). "Spintronics—A

retrospective and perspective". IBM Journal of Research and Development. 50:
101–110. doi:10.1147/rd.501.0101
 LaPedus, Mark (18 June 2009) Tower invests in Crocus, tips MRAM foundry deal.
eetimes.com ^ Walser, M.; Rei
 Behin-Aein, B.; Datta, D.; Salahuddin, S.; Datta, S. (2010). "Proposal for an all-spin
logic device with built-in memory". Nature Nanotechnology. 5 (4): 266–
270. Bibcode:2010NatNa...5..266B. Doi: 10.1038/nnano.2010.31. PMID 20190748
 Manipatruni, Sasikanth; Nikonov, Dmitri E. and Young, Ian A. (2011) [1112.2746]
Circuit Theory for SPICE of Spintronic Integrated Circuits. Arxiv.org. Retrieved on
21 October 2013.
 Spintronics. Sigma-Aldrich. Retrieved on 21 October 2013
 Linder, Jacob; Robinson, Jason W. A. (2 April 2015). "Superconducting
spintronics".
 Bhatti, S.; et al. (2017). "Spintronics based random access memory: a
review". Materials Today. 20 (9): 530–548. doi:10.1016/j.mattod.2017.07.007
 "A Survey of Spintronic Architectures for Processing-in-Memory and Neural
Networks", Journal of Systems Architecture, 2018
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