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  • Review Article
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The emergence of spin electronics in data storage

Nature Materials volume 6, pages 813–823 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Electrons have a charge and a spin, but until recently these were considered separately. In classical electronics, charges are moved by electric fields to transmit information and are stored in a capacitor to save it. In magnetic recording, magnetic fields have been used to read or write the information stored on the magnetization, which 'measures' the local orientation of spins in ferromagnets. The picture started to change in 1988, when the discovery of giant magnetoresistance opened the way to efficient control of charge transport through magnetization. The recent expansion of hard-disk recording owes much to this development. We are starting to see a new paradigm where magnetization dynamics and charge currents act on each other in nanostructured artificial materials. Ultimately, 'spin currents' could even replace charge currents for the transfer and treatment of information, allowing faster, low-energy operations: spin electronics is on its way.

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Figure 1: Magnetoresistive head for hard-disk recording.
Figure 2: The spin valve.
Figure 3: Spin accumulation.
Figure 4: The magnetic tunnel junction.
Figure 5: Magnetic random access memory.

© 2006 IEEE

Figure 6: Spin-transfer switching.
Figure 7: The spin-RAM.

© 2005 IEEE/© 2007 IEEE

Figure 8: Domain wall storage devices.

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Acknowledgements

C.C. acknowledges support from the EU Specific Support Action WIND (IST 033658). The authors also benefit from EU contracts Spinswitch (MRTN-CT-2006-035327) and Nanospin (STREP FET 015728).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale, CNRS, UMR8622, 91405, Orsay, France

    Claude Chappert

  2. Université Paris Sud, 91405, Orsay, France

    Claude Chappert, Albert Fert & Frédéric Nguyen Van Dau

  3. Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS-Thales, 91767, Palaiseau, France

    Albert Fert & Frédéric Nguyen Van Dau

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  1. Claude Chappert
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  2. Albert Fert
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  3. Frédéric Nguyen Van Dau
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Correspondence to Claude Chappert.

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Chappert, C., Fert, A. & Van Dau, F. The emergence of spin electronics in data storage. Nature Mater 6, 813–823 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2024

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