Semiconductor Spintronics: A Myopic Overview

Abstract

"Semiconductor spintronics" is aimed at exploiting the electronic spin degree of freedom for both classical and quantum information processing [1]. A series of fundamental discoveries over the past decade have now firmly established a phenomenological basis for semiconductor spintronics, ranging from the injection, transport and detection of spin polarized currents in standard semiconductor device geometries [2] to the integration of ferromagnetism with conventional semiconductors [3]. I will provide an overview of key developments in this field and also discuss emerging opportunities (and challenges) for the transition from fundamental physics to a fledgling technology.

1. "Spintronics," D. D. Awschalom, M. E. Flatte, and N. Samarth, Scientific American, June 2002.

2. "Current-induced Polarization and the Spin Hall Effect at Room Temperature," N. Stern et al.,Physical Review Letters 97, 126603 (2006).

3. "Ferromagnetic Semiconductors: Moving Beyond GaMnAs," A. H. MacDonald, P. Schiffer, and N. Samarth, Nature (Materials) 4, 195 (2005).

Speaker Biography

Nitin Samarth received a Ph.D. in Physics from Purdue University in 1986. He is a Professor of Physics at the Pennsylvania State University where he studies the fabrication and fundamental properties of heterostructures and nanostructures for semiconductor spintronics and quantum information processing. He has authored over 130 refereed publications, as well as several book chapters, and has edited a book on "Semiconductor Spintronics and Quantum Computation." His work has been featured on the covers of Nature, Scienceand Scientific American.He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and has also received several teaching awards at Penn State.