RESEARCH THEME

The development of the information society has brought attention to the field of spintronics, aimed at enhancing the performance of electronic devices. Spintronics is an area of electronics that actively leverages not only the charge of electrons but also their spin angular momentum. This field saw rapid growth following the discovery of “giant magnetoresistance” in 2007, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. For those unfamiliar with the term "spin angular momentum," it might sound a bit intimidating; however, spin angular momentum is actually the basis for the familiar physical phenomenon of magnetism. Spintronics is already commercialized in applications like read heads in hard disk drives and magnetic random-access memory (MRAM). Furthermore, logic operations utilizing spintronics technology are expected to find applications in artificial intelligence and neuromorphic devices. However, realizing spintronic devices requires the capability to electrically manipulate spin angular momentum. Generally, electron charge interacts with electric fields, while spin angular momentum interacts with magnetic fields. In our laboratory, we aim to control and manipulate spin angular momentum electrically. Some specific research examples are detailed below.