Center for Quantum Spintronics Senter for kvante-spinntronikk

I 2023 godkjente NFR at senteret kunne fortsette sin forskningsaktivitet 2024-2027. Vi har revidert og videreutviklet, gjennom et omfattende arbeid i ledergruppen på senteret, forskningsstrategien for denne perioden innen tre hovedområder: Dissipationless quantum spin transfer, Quantum Spin Dynamics, samt Spin og Topology. Vi har gjennomført en internasjonal samarbeidsworkshop med 41 deltagere med alle ansatte på QuSpin, samt våre partnere i Tyskland og Nederland. Dette var organisert som en kick-off for neste periode på senteret. Denne hadde fokus på forsterket samarbeid mellom teoretisk og eksperimentell aktivitet, og nye samarbeidsprosjekter. Vi har vi 35 vitenskapelige artikler registrert så langt i 2023, hvorav to i Nature Communications, fire i Physical Review Letters og femten i andre Physical Review B, verdens ledende journal i kondenserte medier.

QuSpin's principal goal will be to describe, characterize and develop recently identified quantum approaches to control electric signals, conceptually different from those existing today. Our vision is to trigger a revolution in low-power information and communication technologies in an energy-efficient society. In conventional electronics, the electric charge stores and processes information. In performing these tasks, the electron motion wastes energy by heating the surroundings. This heating prevents a further miniaturization of electronics devices. It is our hypothesis that the waste of energy can be circumvented by utilizing the dynamics of quantum entities other than the electron charge. The electron spin, the electron's magnetic moment, is a prime example of a quantum entity. Spintronics has already proven its worth by causing a revolution in data storage. Nevertheless, electronics and spintronics continue to function by electron transport, which inherently dissipates power due to resistive losses. QuSpin will develop new concepts for the utilization of spin and pseudo-spin quantum states in low-dissipation systems. Our aim is to control these states electrically in innovative nanostructured combinations of magnetic insulators, topological insulators, and superconductors. In insulators, there are no electric currents, but other quantum entities can flow with significant power reduction. In superconductors, there is zero dissipation associated with spin and charge transport. The research focuses on fundamental challenges in spintronics. A concerted effort is essential to realize electrically controlled spin signals in low power dissipation systems. QuSpin will reorganize condensed matter physics in Norway to train the next generation to develop further the research findings. We will bring together Norwegian researchers with international experts to put Norway at the forefront of advancing this key burgeoning area that enables innovative applications.