Silicon Spintronics at Room Temperature

Research Project, 2013 – 2022

Spintronics represents the vision of using the spin of electrons rather than their charge to perform information storage and processing. Spin-based devices have the potential to make future computers non-volatile, faster, with memory and processing integrated into a single chip, all with reduced energy consumption. A profound impact on the development of spintronics could come from exploiting the spin degree of freedom in a main stream semiconductor, such as silicon, at room temperature. The primary objective of this proposal is to establish a physical understanding of the fundamental processes of electrical creation of spin polarization, spin transport, and spin manipulation in silicon based nanostructures. While relevant for the development of a spin based transistor and all spin logic devices, this work intends to reach well beyond that, aiming to develop new techniques to create and control spins in silicon nanostructures. For realization of this we are developing novel approaches for device fabrication and new measurement techniques, which can lead to new fundamental physics experiments, and new applications.