Room Temperature Ferromagnets: New Materials for Data Storage in Next-Generation Computing

Paper ID:

434

Last updated: 31/01/2012 09:08:31

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Where: Global

When: 21-50yrs+

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Keywords:

Spintronics; quantum computing; ferromagnets; dilute magnetic semiconductors; data storage; new materials; multilayers; photonics; electronics; magnet

Summary

To engineer new devices for the electronics industry, such as the quantum computer, new technology has to be developed. This technology encompasses two physical properties: spin and magnetism, and these are combined into the field of ‘spintronics’ (i.e. spin-based electronics). Development of spintronic devices promises to revolutionise the electronics industry with advanced data processing, highly stable devices and faster data access. To achieve this revolutionary technology, a further technical requirement has to be met: the development of room temperature oxide-based ferromagnets. This is a technically challenging aspect to the development of spintronics, but one that promises significant rewards both technologically and economically over the next few decades if successful.

Discussion

Spintronics, or spin based electronics, are a new generation of devices that rely upon the spin of an electron to facilitate transfer of information, rather than the traditional electron charge that is used in conventional electronics .[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Devices based upon conventional electronics are limited in performance by data processing speed, materials volatility and are known to have large power consumption requirements. With the advent of spintronics there is the potential to increase performance whilst reducing power consumption. There is also the prospect of merging the fields of photonics, electronics and magnetics to develop new devices based on spin, such as quantum bits (a more complex and versatile unit of computer information) for quantum computing. [1][8][9][5][6][10]

Spintronics is a future technology area that is limited in application by the materials available that have the required electronic and magnetic properties at appropriate operating temperatures.[2][11] Spintronic devices have been developed [12] but an essential step towards production of next generation spin based electronics is the achievement of ferromagnetism (spontaneous or continuous magnetization) at room temperature in oxide based materials such as zinc and titanium oxides. [13][8][2][11] One key requirement in developing devices is that the material on which the device is based is ferromagnetic at room temperature and above. [1][14] This requirement has meant that most early research focussed on multi-component materials and semiconducting alloys such as GaMnAs (Gallium Manganese Arsenides). [13][15][16][17] However it is now considered that to achieve practical devices single component oxides, such as TiO2 (Titanium dioxide), are essential and the prediction of above room temperature ferromagnetism in oxides pioneered this new direction of spintronic research. [14] It is clear that to develop commercial spintronic devices for advanced applications such as spin memory and quantum computing there will have to be significant advances in producing materials that display room temperature ferromagnetism.[18][11] These new materials will enable the development of higher performance computers (faster data processing, lower power consumption), medical devices and mobile phones for example.

With significant research efforts now directed towards development of room temperature ferromagnets based on oxides [18] [8] there is significant potential for spintronic devices to be produced in the next 3-10 years. A key stage will be the demonstration of spin based electronic devices combined with basic research that is aimed at understanding the physical phenomena that underpin this exciting new technology area. Device deployment will also require advances in the deposition of thin oxide layers and new techniques to control the growth of nanomaterials. Devices will increasingly be of reduced dimensions with unprecedented capabilities, potentially rendering supercomputers redundant. Room temperature ferromagnets (RTF) are key to achieving this. Further engineering and understanding of nanostructured materials will rapidly advance the technology area.

A further advance that is of considerable interest is the advent of molecular spintronics, using single molecule magnets. [19] In these cases materials operate at low temperatures, and hence there is significant scope for future development in converting this effect into devices. Operations may however be limited by temperature and therefore developing room temperature molecular magnets is a target.

Implications

The implications of the successful development of room temperature ferromagnets are of global significance and impact upon both science and the economy. As computer storage and data access speeds are increasing there will come a point at which current technology can no longer be improved because we have reached the practical limits of device miniaturisation. With spintronics and room temperature ferromagnets we can overcome this fundamental limitation. There is the potential to develop a multi-billion dollar industry based on this technology and there is an opportunity for the UK to actively engage in this activity.

There is significant expertise at the research level in UK universities [20] and with nurturing and investment successful technology transfer should result. Indeed specialist companies in this relatively new technology could make rapid progress. Further, as large corporations are actively pursuing this field, intellectual property exploitation would be a significant area for the UK to develop. Spintronics may also find applications in sensors for medical devices such as hearing aids, pacemakers, defibrillators etc. One prediction of the market for magnetic memory in computing alone could be hundreds of billions of dollars per year. The likelihood of finding the appropriate materials and better engineering is greater than 50% and the timescale is 5-10 years.

Early indicators

LEADERS:
University of California Santa Barbara
University of Florida
Polish Academy of Sciences
DARPA/Naval Research Lab.
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Tohoku University, Japan
Crismat, Caen, France
IBM-Stanford

Drivers & Inhibitors

Drivers
 Need for increased computer power and speed
 Requirement for portable devices
 Advanced medical devices
 More robust devices
 New deposition and synthesis techniques for nanotechnology

Inhibitors
 Lack of funding for basic science discovery
 Necessity for interdisciplinary working to transform scientific curiosity to practical device

Parallels & Precedents

Precedents
 Development of silicon based semiconductors (a solid material that has electrical conductivity in between that of a conductor and that of an insulator - essential in modern electrical devices)
 Evolution of personal computers

Parallels
• Quantum computer development
• Multiferroics (materials that have coupled electric, magnetic and structural order parameters that result in simultaneous ferroic properties (i.e. ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, or ferroelastic). [1][18][13][8][2][9][3][15][10][11][14][16][17][4][12][5][6][7][19][20]

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