Spintronics , also known as spin electronics, is the study of the intrinsic spin of the electron and its
Associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electronic charge, in solid-state devices. 4 The field of spintronics concerns spin- charge coupling in metallic systems; the analogous effe in insulators fall into the field of multiferroics.
Spintronics fundamentally differs from traditional electronics in that, in addition to charge state, electron spins are exploited as a further degree of freedom, with implications in the efficiency of data storage and transfer. Spintronic systems are most often realised in dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) and Heusler alloys and are of particular interest in the field of quantum computing and neuromorphic computing.
The European Research Council (ERC) granted a €1.9 million new project to Prof. Can Onur Avci in the field of magnetic insulators for spintronics devices. Prof. Aci will move to ICMAB and be integrated at the ICMAB Research Line 3 (RL3) “Oxides for new generation electronics”. The activities of this research center span from multiferroics, flexoelectric materials oxide photonics and spintronics to ferroelectric memory arrays and GHz-THz magnetoelectrics.
The awarded project is called MAGNETIC, or “Magnetic Insulators: An Enabling Platform for Innovative Spintronic Concepts”. The project full goal is to study magnetic insulators to develop novel device concepts and explore emerging physical phenomena that could be useful for future spintronics research and applications.