Spintronics - Page 2

Researchers at Cornell used theoretical techniques to predict that using intense mid-infrared laser light on a titanium perovskite can dynamically induce a magnetic phase transition ' taking the material from its ferromagnetic ground state to a hidden anti-ferromagnetic phase. This dramatic shift could have useful applications, particularly in optical information processing.

'It would be a kind of optical switch,' the researchers said. 'You have a material where it's magnetic and 'non-magnetic.' It's going between those two states with light'.

Researchers from the University of Utah discovered that organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites feature two contradictory properties - easily controlled electron spin and long spin lifetime (up to a nanosecond). This is a unique combination of two highly sought after properties for spintronics devices.

The specific material used in this research is the hybrid perovskite methyl-ammonium lead iodine (CH3NH3PbI3). In their study, a thin film of this material was placed in front of an ultrafast laser that was used to set the electron's spin orientation and also observe the spin precession.