Physicists Capture First Images of Atomic Spin

[n2doc]

ScienceDaily (Apr. 26, 2010) — Though scientists argue that the emerging technology of spintronics may trump conventional electronics for building the next generation of faster, smaller, more efficient computers and high-tech devices, no one has actually seen the spin -- a quantum mechanical property of electrons -- in individual atoms until now.


In a study published as an Advance Online Publication in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, physicists at Ohio University and the University of Hamburg in Germany present the first images of spin in action.

The researchers used a custom-built microscope with an iron-coated tip to manipulate cobalt atoms on a plate of manganese. Through scanning tunneling microscopy, the team repositioned individual cobalt atoms on a surface that changed the direction of the electrons' spin.

Images captured by the scientists showed that the atoms appeared as a single protrusion if the spin direction was upward, and as double protrusions with equal heights when the spin direction was downward.

The study suggests that scientists can observe and manipulate spin, a finding that may impact future development of nanoscale magnetic storage, quantum computers and spintronic devices.

"Different directions in spin can mean different states for data storage," said Saw-Wai Hla, an associate professor of physics and astronomy in Ohio University's Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute and one of the primary investigators on the study. "The memory devices of current computers involve tens of thousands of atoms. In the future, we may be able to use one atom and change the power of the computer by the thousands."

more

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100426151638.htm


The different shape and appearance of these individual cobalt atoms is caused by the different spin directions. (Credit: Image courtesy Saw-Wai Hla, Ohio University)

[Ian David]

1. I will be able to store SO MUCH porn on my iPod soon! n/t

[damntexdem]

2. Did they do the research in the GOP Senate caucus?

I mean, they ARE the masters of spin. ;-)