In the realm of energy and technology, the pursuit of efficient, low-power electronics is a constant drive. Researchers Sajjan Sheoran and Pratibha Dev from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay have made strides in this area, focusing on a promising avenue called spintronics. Their work, published in the journal Physical Review B, explores ways to generate spin currents in a broader range of magnetic materials, potentially opening doors to more efficient energy applications.
Spintronics is a field that leverages the intrinsic spin of electrons, rather than their charge, to process information. This can lead to devices that require less power and generate less heat than traditional electronics. In their study, Sheoran and Dev focus on a specific type of current called a spin current, which is a flow of electron spins. They investigate how to generate these currents in materials known as collinear antiferromagnets and altermagnets.
Traditionally, spin currents have been generated in materials with a property called spin splitting, which is symmetry forbidden in conventional collinear antiferromagnets and higher-order altermagnets. However, the researchers demonstrate that by applying electric fields, strain, or a combination of both, they can induce phase transitions in these materials. These transitions can transform the materials into states where spin currents can flow, such as uncompensated magnetic or d-wave altermagnetic states.
The researchers used a combination of theoretical analyses and computational simulations to substantiate their findings. They applied their framework to several representative magnetic materials, including KV2Se2O, RuF4, Cr2O3, FeS2, and MnPSe3. Their calculations showed that the charge-to-spin conversion ratio can reach up to nearly 100% via uncompensated magnetism and about 40% via d-wave altermagnetism under realistic conditions. This highlights the potential effectiveness of their approach for generating spin currents efficiently.
For the energy sector, this research could pave the way for more efficient power electronics and data storage devices. By enabling spin current generation in a broader class of materials, it could lead to the development of low-power, high-performance devices that are crucial for energy conservation and management. However, the practical applications of this research are still in the theoretical and computational stages, and further experimental work is needed to translate these findings into real-world technologies.
In conclusion, Sheoran and Dev’s work offers a promising avenue for advancing spintronics and, by extension, the energy industry. By demonstrating a method to generate spin currents in a wider range of materials, they have opened up new possibilities for developing more efficient, low-power electronic devices. Their research, published in Physical Review B, represents a significant step forward in the ongoing quest for energy-efficient technologies.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.