New high-density data storage and spintronic devices could be achieved by reversibly controlling the electrical and magnetic properties of thin films.

The ever-increasing amounts of electronic data that we generate in our personal and professional lives require new storage technologies that can fit lots of data into small physical spaces. The most promising solutions include solid-state redox devices, which work by controlling the magnetic properties of materials. By carefully adjusting the chemical composition of ferromagnetic thin films, researchers succeeded in tuning reversible magnetic properties, which can be applied to next-generation high density data storage enabling low power consumption.

Now, Tsuchiya, Terabe, and Aono at the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, NIMS and co-workers have developed a new solid-state device in which several magnetic and electrical properties can be changed and reversed by inserting and removing ions. The team believes that their device could pave the way for spintronics — novel devices that exploit not only the charges on electrons but also the intrinsic angular momentum, or spin, that is predicted by quantum mechanics.

The new device contains a thin film made from the iron oxide magnetite (Fe3O4) next to a layer of lithium silicate. ...

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http://www.nims.go.jp/mana/research/highlights/vol29.html