Spintronics utilizes the spin degree of freedom of electrons in addition to the charge, which can expand the capabilities of electronic and optical devices. Discovery of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) have been used to detect magnetic field, which boosted the areal density of hard disk drive and made Magnetic random access memories (MRAMs) dense. Spin-transfer-torque is used to write data in denser MRAMs having the most durable non-volatile memory.

Now, evolutions and new spintronics physics are coming up one after another. The sensitivity of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) becomes very high to detect very tiny magnetic field from our heart at room temperature. Spin-orbit-torque writing, especially spin-Hall effect is expected to have much higher write-efficiency and much better endurance than conventional existing STT writing does. Voltage-change-magnetic-anisotropy (VCMA) effect is expected to extremely reduce energy consumption in a memory- hierachy. 100 % circularly polarized light can be emitted at room temperature by a spin-LED.

This session will introduce ongoing researches and developments on spintronics and the possibility of the innovations will be discussed.