Aug 30 2010
Professor Hui Zhao and Lalani Werake, a graduate student at the University of Kansas have discovered a new method to identify spinning electron currents in a semiconductor with the use of lasers. This discovery might open up new methods to develop advanced electronic gadgets and computers.
Werake and Zhao have named the spin-based electronics research as ‘spintronics’. Spintronics uses the electron rotation’s direction to transmit data, instead of utilizing electronic charges’ absence or presence. Nevertheless, the researchers of spintronics have found it difficult to identify the spinning electrons’ flow in real time.
When exposed to a beam of laser, a semiconductor piece produces lights of various colors, provided that the spinning electrons are flowing. In addition, the new light’s brightness level is related to the spin current’s strength. The second-harmonic generation, which is an optical effect, can examine the electron spin current in real time while not making changes to the current. The method enhances the existing the spin-current analysis, which is similar to the method of examining the still photographs for measuring the speed of a car after it has sped away.