At the SIS beamline at the SLS where the experiments on SmB6 were performed. PSI scientists Ming Shi, Nicholas Plumb and Nan Xu (from left to right). Photo: Paul Scherrer Institute/Markus Fischer
Media Releases Research Using Synchrotron Light Materials Research Matter and Material. Novel material shows properties necessary for spintronic devices The motion of electrons is at the heart of most electronic applications. However, in the quest for the next generation of devices, researchers are also interested in manipulating the electrons' spins - their traits that make them into tiny magnets. This new technology, called spintronics, has already found its way into electronic devices like hard drives and will lead to smaller and faster devices with unexpected functionalities in the future. Spintronics requires polarized electric currents with all the electron spins pointing in one direction. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and the Institute of Physics (IOP) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have now proven that the material SmB6 shows all the properties of a so-called topological insulator - a material with currents of spin-polarized electrons flowing along its surface. In the bulk, away from the surface, the material is an insulator and does not allow any currents to flow.
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