Albert Fert, Nobel Laureate in Physics 2007: «Spintronics leads to smaller devices that go faster and consume less energy»
Spintronics is a challenging discipline that keeps the promise of developing high-speed, high-capacity and low-power devices for the technologies of information and communication in the near future. The cornerstone of this technological revolution was the discovery of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in 1988 by Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg, who were honoured with the Nobel Prize in Physics 2007 for their pioneering breakthrough.
“Open your perspective, there is a lot of space for new discoveries!”, Albert Fert challenged the audience on 25 September at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Barcelona (UB) during his lecture “Spin-orbitronics, a new direction for spintronics”. The event was an open scenario for analysing new scientific challenges brought by spintronics and another scientific field which is even more attractive for the scientific community: spin-orbitronics. Atilà Herms, dean of the Faculty of Physics, and Javier Tejada, professor from the Department of Fundamental Physics, introduced Professor Albert Fert to the audience who longed to update their knowledge about the discipline that exploits an intrinsic property of electrons —the spin— to change the way spintronic devices can process and store data.
Spintronics is a challenging discipline that keeps the promise of developing high-speed, high-capacity and low-power devices for the technologies of information and communication in the near future. The cornerstone of this technological revolution was the discovery of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in 1988 by Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg, who were honoured with the Nobel Prize in Physics 2007 for their pioneering breakthrough.
“Open your perspective, there is a lot of space for new discoveries!”, Albert Fert challenged the audience on 25 September at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Barcelona (UB) during his lecture “Spin-orbitronics, a new direction for spintronics”. The event was an open scenario for analysing new scientific challenges brought by spintronics and another scientific field which is even more attractive for the scientific community: spin-orbitronics. Atilà Herms, dean of the Faculty of Physics, and Javier Tejada, professor from the Department of Fundamental Physics, introduced Professor Albert Fert to the audience who longed to update their knowledge about the discipline that exploits an intrinsic property of electrons —the spin— to change the way spintronic devices can process and store data.
Spintronics is a kind of interface between physics of magnetism and electronics. This new type of electronics exploits not only the charge of the electrons but also their fundamental quantum property: the spin. Why is the spin so exciting for the work developed by the scientific community?
Electrons have two characters: charge and spin. Why not using both? Information can be coded by a current of charge, as in classical electronics, but also by a current of spin. In addition the information carried by a current of spin can be stored more directly into the non-volatile (permanent) information of the hard discs or magnetic memories.
Spintronics leads to spectacular applications in technology. What barriers have to be broken down by the scientific community when working in spintronics?
There are many technological barriers because it is more and more difficult to prepare scientific materials at the nanoscale. What are the fundamental barriers? There are not really fundamental barriers because spintronics is based on quantum physics and quantum physics is well known. But there are new scenarios to imagine for the many actors in the matter at the nanoscale: electrons, spins, photons, magnons, phonons, Cooper pairs, excitons, skyrmions, etc. In fact, I donʼt really see barriers except the limit of the imagination of the physicist. New concepts are introduced every day: for example, recently, the concepts of topological protection and topological insulators.
To store more information in less space: the revolution in magnetic devices has just started…
Yes, this is only a small part of spintronics, namely the application of the giant magnetoresistance. But it is true that, nowadays, the quantity of information that has to be treated, stored, etc. is increasing so much. Therefore, technological devices to treat and store information have to be designed to be faster and consume less energy, which is more or less the objective of spintronics.
Exploring new materials is a key factor in the progress of spintronics. What kind of materials are the best candidates for spintronics?
There are many new materials. Graphene is an example of a new material with a lot of possibilities and it is one of my subjects of research. In fact, in my lecture, I showed that we are more and more interested not by classical three-dimensional materials but their surface, the atomic interface or by one atomic layer thick materials. Graphene is a great example and the surface of topological insulators is another one.
Small is beautiful, scientists say. What makes the nanoscale dimension so attractive for scientists?
It cannot be said that the nanoscale is the most attractive scale because there are smaller scales that are even more attractive if you want, for example, to understand the origin of the Universe. But, for our practical life, because we are part of a matter which is composed of atoms, the best we can do is to organize the matter at the atomic scale.
Science problems have long time horizons so we will always need new generations of scientists. In accordance with you criterion, whatʼs the way to encourage young students to study science?
We, scientists, have to speak with teenagers. Personally, Iʼm giving presentations at colleges and schools, and I think that journalists have also something to do in the mass media in order to promote science in society. We have to show teenagers that science is fascinating and not as difficult as people generally imagine.
Science and scientists play a vital role in society but most people only get closer to science through newspapers and television. Does science have the support it deserves in society?
Today, there are some movements against science because people are afraid of some evolution of the society. The evolution of the world, more and more industrial production, the industrial society, has led to many problems: the emission of carbon dioxide and the global warming, the consumption of many materials which are each time more difficult to find, etc. However, solutions to these problems can be only approached by science. For example, only science can find good ways to store carbon dioxide or produce energies that does not lead to emissions of carbon dioxide.
Last but not least. You received the Nobel Prize in Physics 2007 for the discovery of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in 1988. How did the Nobel Prize change your everyday routine?
It has changed it in too many things. For example, the responsibility of giving conferences at schools to motivate young people for science, of speaking with political authorities, etc. I try to explain to politicians which the best way to organise research and universities is. And, as before, I have a lot of work to do at the lab. Personally, I donʼt like participating in TV debates, inaugurations or large meetings. I believe that I have still something to do in science because I have some new ideas to develop and goals to achieve. So, in short, I have many things to do.