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R&D Association for Future Electron Devices

R&D Projects

New Plan

R&D of spintronics technology
- What can we expect of spintronic device technology? -

Spintronics technology, the magnetic head for a hard disk by using the giant magnetic resistance (GMR) effect and the optical isolator for a high-speed optical network using the photo-electro-magnetic effect of a magnetic semiconductor have been put to practical use to date. Recently, particular attention has been paid to the tunnel magnetic resistance (TMR) effect produced by a device composed of a ferromagnetic body and insulating thin film. This effect was discovered by a Japanese researcher in 1955. The effect seems to hold great promise because it can be applied to non-volatile magnetic random access memory (MRAM), which is beyond the DRAM. Actually, IBM-Infineon announced that it would put 256-Mb MRAMs on the market by 2004, and Motorola supported by DARPA made an announcement of the commercialization of faster 4-Mb MRAMs. MRAM is a key technology which our country should also work toward development on a nation-wide basis. In order to establish spintronics technology, however, it is necessary to pursue the applicability of non-volatile memory and optical elements before anything else and at the same time it is important to develop spin control technology whose technique has not been fully established, as a next-generation electronics basic technology.

Our association is planning and promoting new projects, under the theme of developing spintronics key technology such as spin control and the high-speed and large-capacity MRAM technology superior to those of IBM, placing emphasis on the framework of cooperation among the government, industry, and academia, in order to promote the research and development of the promising spintronics technology.

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