Researchers Put 'Spin' in Silicon

ccellist writes "Physorg.com is reporting on the University of Delaware and Cambridge NanoTech's experiments regarding 'spintronics,' or the ability to use information about electron spin in atoms of silicon to encode information, much like we use information about an electron's charge state in computers today. 'Spintronics' research hopes to usher in a new age of computer speed and performance by measuring and even controlling the angular momentum displayed by all electrons, and using this information to encode data. Researchers for the first time have successfully conducted the spin of electrons in a custom-made silicon chip, a process known as 'spin transport.'"

Comments

Re:It's actually quite straightforward.

[Anonymous Coward]

You're actually thinking of the outdated Rutherford-Moore model of the atom. While it was practical back in its day, it doesn't adequately describe much of the observed phenomena since that time. That's why we need to look towards models like those of quantum mechanics, where we're not dealing with randomness (because we're not in actuality), and instead we're dealing with probability distributions.

Think of the sea urchin spikes as the probability density function of a three-dimensional Bell curve. We have a greater probability of finding an electron closer to the atom thus resulting in the greater spread at the bottom of the spike. On the other hand, we have a small probability of finding an electron the further away we go from the atom, represented by the smaller spread (ie. the point) of the spike.