Ultrafast control of spins in a microscope

Researchers at EPFL have developed a new technique that can visualize and control the rotation of a handful of spins arranged in a vortex-like texture at the fastest speed ever achieved. The breakthrough can advance "spintronics", a technology that includes new types of computer memory, logic gates, and high-precision sensors. "Technological advancements in computation, data storage and sensing all require new techniques to control the nanoscaled magnetic properties of materials," says Professor Fabrizio Carbone at EPFL's School of Basic Sciences. One of these properties is "spin", which refers to the magnetic orientation of individual atoms. Spin has attracted a lot of interest in recent years, giving rise to the field of spin electronics or "spintronics". Apart from the fundamental study of spin, the more practical aim of spintronics is to exploit not just the charge of electrons - as in traditional electronics - but also their spin, adding and extra degree of freedom that can improve the efficiency of data storage and transfer. However, this first requires that we can control small numbers of spins.