There is a material, dubbed a "half-metal," that is only conductive to electrons spins in a particular direction. If this metal is also magnetic, the spins for which the metal is conductive are typically related to the direction of the magnetic moment of the material.
Now, we currently have a means of setting magnetic moments of materials on a microscopic scale electronically. It's used in MRAM. So, it seems to me that half-metals are a potential replacement for semiconductors (since if the electron current going through the device is polarized, it will either pass or not pass through the half-metal...and if it's not polarized the possibility may exist to actually have two data streams!). Since half-metals are not subject to the same constraints as semiconductors, it seems plausible that we could make faster, smaller, and cooler computing devices with the use of half-metals.
I'm approaching this from the perspective of glancing at some of the pure research into half-metals (i.e. why the materals were exhibiting this strange behavior) that one of my professors was doing. I'd like to know if anybody here has heard of the possibility of using half-metals in processing, and what sorts of constraints the technology has.
Now, we currently have a means of setting magnetic moments of materials on a microscopic scale electronically. It's used in MRAM. So, it seems to me that half-metals are a potential replacement for semiconductors (since if the electron current going through the device is polarized, it will either pass or not pass through the half-metal...and if it's not polarized the possibility may exist to actually have two data streams!). Since half-metals are not subject to the same constraints as semiconductors, it seems plausible that we could make faster, smaller, and cooler computing devices with the use of half-metals.
I'm approaching this from the perspective of glancing at some of the pure research into half-metals (i.e. why the materals were exhibiting this strange behavior) that one of my professors was doing. I'd like to know if anybody here has heard of the possibility of using half-metals in processing, and what sorts of constraints the technology has.
