Silicon Spintronics: Challenges and Perspectives

Abstract

Spintronics has significantly advanced our understanding of the electronic spin phenomena in metals and semiconductors. It has also given practical magnetoelectronic devices, as symbolized by the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) read heads working in the hard drives. These practical devices comprise ferromagnetic metal layers separated by other metals or insulators. The next advance should involve semiconductors. Special attention is paid to silicon, due to its dominance in the information technology and favorable spin properties.