Spintronics, a Disruptive Technology

Moore's Law decrees the progressive increase in speed and capacity of silicon chips along with lower costs and pricing. Molecular configuration on the chip's surface, however, limits the smallness of scale for printed circuits and thus a barrier. Enter quantum physics. Nano-tubes/nano-wires coupled with the signal carried by the spin orientation of electrons offers a quantum reduction in scale, thus greater capacity, speed and economy.

Researchers at IBM --- the most productive basic research laboratory since AT&T and the Bell's spun of their basic research laboratories, Lucent Technologies, now owned by Alcatel in France --- report on a basic mechanism for imprinting magnetic memory in nano-wires. This is a big deal.

Solid state memory works faster and more reliably, no moving parts, than fragile hard drives but costs 100 times more. Spintronics, based on the axis of spin of an electron, as described in the Science Dec 24 issue promises even greater speed, and resilience while at at a cost more nearly that of a hard-dive.

Spintronics as a product ushers in a new disruptive technology. (Less polluting, less energy and arguably all green.) Companies building these better devices may enjoy a competitive advantage: IBM, NVEC?