Fifteen years ago we demonstrated the ability of nominally non-magnetic systems to behave magnetically under applied electrical currents. The discovery of this subtle relativistic quantum mechanical phenomenon subsequently led to the development of a new highly efficient method for electrically writing information in magnetic memory chips. More recently, it has also led to our successful attempts to expand the range of magnetic materials potentially suitable for memory devices from ferromagnets to the more abundant antiferromagnets. In this review we summarize key principles, achievements, and prospects of this, so-called relativistic spintronics field from both fundamental physics and microelectronics perspectives.
Contact: Tomáš Jungwirth
Cooperating institutions: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, The CNRS, France, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), Belgium, ETH Zürich, Switzerland, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom