MBE tool for UK spintronics research
"At Nottingham University we are investigating a number of different material systems, some of which may have Curie temperatures above room temperature (critical for usable end product applications)," says Professor Tom Foxon. "The GEN III system's 14 source ports will enable us to investigate many possible alternative materials without changing MBE sources."
The Curie temperature is the temperature below which a material is ferromagnetic. Propose spintronic device applications include ferromagnetic metallic alloys for read heads and magnetic random-access memory, integration with microelectronics technology to produce ultra-fast switches and microprocessors, and large-scale quantum computing.
Last week, an order was announced from Leeds University for an MBE system made by Oxford Instruments (Bulletin 540, July 7, 2004).
