Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Industry and Business News .




CHIP TECH
ORNL study confirms magnetic properties of silicon nano-ribbons
by Staff Writers
Oak Ridge TN (SPX) Oct 18, 2012


File image.

Nano-ribbons of silicon configured so the atoms resemble chicken wire could hold the key to ultrahigh density data storage and information processing systems of the future.

This was a key finding of a team of scientists led by Paul Snijders of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The researchers used scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to validate first principle calculations - or models - that for years had predicted this outcome.

The discovery, detailed in New Journal of Physics, validates this theory and could move scientists closer to their long-term goal of cost-effectively creating magnetism in non-magnetic materials.

"While scientists have spent a lot of time studying silicon because it is the workhorse for current information technologies, for the first time we were able to clearly establish that the edges of nano-ribbons feature magnetic silicon atoms," said Snijders, a member of the Materials Science and Technology Division.

The surprise is that while bulk silicon is non-magnetic, the edges of nano-ribbons of this material are magnetic.

Snijders and colleagues at ORNL, Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Wisconsin and Naval Research Laboratory showed that the electron spins are ordered anti-ferromagnetically, which means they point up and down alternatingly. Configured this way, the up and down spin-polarized atoms serve as effective substitutes for conventional zeros and ones common to electron, or charge, current.

"By exploiting the electron spins arising from intrinsic broken bonds at gold-stabilized silicon surfaces, we were able to replace conventional electronically charged zeros and ones with spins pointing up and down," Snijders said.

This discovery provides a new avenue to study low-dimensional magnetism, the researchers noted. Most importantly, such stepped silicon-gold surfaces provide an atomically precise template for single-spin devices at the ultimate limit of high-density data storage and processing.

"In the quest for smaller and less expensive magnets, electro-motors, electronics and storage devices, creating magnetism in otherwise non-magnetic materials could have far-reaching implications," Snijders said.

The paper is available on line here. This research was funded by DOE's Office of Science, the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.

.


Related Links
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Computer Chip Architecture, Technology and Manufacture
Nano Technology News From SpaceMart.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








CHIP TECH
Optical vortices on a chip
Bristol UK (SPX) Oct 19, 2012
An international research group led by scientists from the University of Bristol and the Universities of Glasgow (UK) and Sun Yat-sen and Fudan in China, have demonstrated integrated arrays of emitters of so call 'optical vortex beams' onto a silicon chip. The work is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Science magazine, published tomorrow [19 October 2012]. Contradicting traditio ... read more


CHIP TECH
Mapping The Universe In 3-D

Physicists crack another piece of the glass puzzle

Worldwide smartphone users top 1 bn: report

New paper reveals fundamental chemistry of plasma/liquid interactions

CHIP TECH
$15M order for Harris tactical radios

SPAWAR Atlantic taps Engility

Northrop Grumman Begins Production of EHF SatCom System for B-2 Bomb

Mutualink Selects Benchmark to Manufacture Interoperable Communications Systems on Global Scale

CHIP TECH
AFSPC commander convenes AIB

Proton Lofts Intelsat 23 For Americas, Europe and Africa Markets

India to launch 58 space missions in next 5 years

SpaceX Dragon Successfully Attaches To Space Station

CHIP TECH
NASA's WISE Colors in Unknowns on Jupiter Asteroids

Indra Technology Supports Management And Control Of New Galileo Satellites

Testing of Galileo satellite navigation system can begin

Two more satellites for the Galileo system

CHIP TECH
F-35A Completes First In-Flight Weapons Release

Lockheed Martin Completes F-35 Full Mission Simulator Installation at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma

Boeing Starting Production of KC-46 Tanker Refueling Boom

Chile deploys Israel's RecceLite system

CHIP TECH
Bus service for qubits

Developing the next generation of microsensors

ORNL study confirms magnetic properties of silicon nano-ribbons

Optical vortices on a chip

CHIP TECH
Earth Observation Commercial Data Market Remains Strong Despite Slowdown in 2011

Antarctic Rift Subject of International Attention

GMES for Europe

Boeing Releases Updated Geospatial Data Management Tool

CHIP TECH
New methods might drastically reduce the costs of investigating polluted sites

Pollution row strangles Italian steel giant ILVA

S. Korean villagers evacuate after toxic leak

Council of war gathers for world's biodiversity crisis




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement