Low Dimensional Nanomaterials for Spintronics

Abstract

Moore's Law in microelectronic technology will break down as the size of individual bits approaches the dimension of atoms; this has been called the end of the silicon road map. For this reason and also for enhancing the multifunctionality of devices, the spin degree of freedom of electron is being investigated for magnetoelectronics applications, i.e., spintronics. Spin-based devices are closely connected with the development of nanotechnology. In this chapter, recent developments of the low-dimensional nanomaterials for spintronics are reviewed. In the first section, the main concepts of spintronics including nanospintronics are briefly discussed. Experimental studies on transition-metal-doped nanowires and nanotubes are summarized in the second section. Extensive theoretical works in this field are reviewed in the third section. Finally, an outlook is given in the last section. SpintronicsSpintronics (a neologism for "spin-based electronics") [1,2], also known as magnetoelectronics, is an emergent technology that exploits the quantum propensity of electrons to spin as well as make use of their charge state. The spin itself is manifested as a detectable weak magnetic energy state characterized as "spin up" and "spin down". Spintronics started attracting massive interest with the discovery of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in the 1980s, which has already been adopted as the norm in the hard disk drive (HDD) manufacturing industry. Indeed, the impact of spintronics in the HDD industry is a mere indication of things to come.Spintronics has a number of potentially groundbreaking applications that are set to drive next-generation electronics. Although GMR can arguably be considered the driving force for spintronics at present, the biggest potential of spin-based devices is in embedded memories. Magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) is expected to revolutionize the memory market and contribute to the development of advanced and versatile computing and personal devices. Advances in instantly 247