William Atkins
Thursday, 09 October 2008 20:44
Science -
Energy
Page 2 of 3
When working with magnetized materials, electrons align their spins. Most electrons align “up” rather than “down.” (Electrons possess the property of intrinsic angular momentum (spin), with a standard half-odd integer spin value of 1/2.)
Because there are more up-spin electrons, the team predicted that these up-spin electrons would align toward the cooler side of the material when it was heated.
However, when Dr. Saitoh’s team heated one side of a magnetized nickel-iron rod, they found that the spin of electrons aligning “up” (or, in the direction of the magnetic field of the rod), instead, liked the warmth injected into the system.
Conversely, the electrons that were aligning “down” (or, against the magnetic field) did not like the warmth, but instead preferred the coolness.
In fact, the Saitoh team found a significant difference in the number of up-spin electrons than down-spin electrons.
Thus, Saitoh contends that such differences in the “up” and “down” spins of electrons of magnetic matter could someday be controlled and manipulated to produce new devices for computer chips.
Such technology is called spintronics.
Page three explains briefly spintronic technology.
