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Spintronics: Conceptual Building Blocks

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Book cover Magnetism and Synchrotron Radiation

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Physics ((SPPHY,volume 133))

Abstract

The purpose of this introduction to spintronics is to provide some elementary description of its conceptual building blocks. Thus, it is intended for a newcomer to the field. After recalling rudimentary descriptions of spin precession and spin relaxation, spin-dependent transport is treated within the Boltzmann formalism. This suffices to introduce key notions such as the spin asymmetry of the conductivities in the two-current model, the spin diffusion length, and spin accumulation. Two basic mechanisms of spin relaxation are then presented, one arising from spin–orbit scattering and the other from electron–magnon collisions. Finally, the action of a spin-polarized current on magnetization is presented in a thermodynamics framework. This introduces the notion of spin torque and the characteristic length scale over which the transverse spin polarization of conduction electron decays as it is injected into a magnet.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Insitut de Physique des Nanostructures, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, station 3, CH-1015, Lausanne-EPFL, Switzerland

    J.-Ph. Ansermet

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  1. J.-Ph. Ansermet
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Correspondence to J.-Ph. Ansermet .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS-UMR 7504, Inst. Physique et Chimie des, Université Strasbourg, rue du Loess 22, Strasbourg CX 2, 67034, France

    Eric Beaurepaire

  2. CNRS-UMR 7504, Inst. Physique et Chimie des, Université Strasbourg, rue du Loess 22, Strasbourg CX 2, 67034, France

    Hervé Bulou

  3. CNRS-UMR 7504, Inst. Physique et Chimie des, Université Strasbourg, rue du Loess 22, Strasbourg CX 2, 67034, France

    Fabrice Scheurer

  4. CNRS-UMR 7504, Inst. Physique et Chimie des, Université Strasbourg, rue du Loess 22, Strasbourg CX 2, 67034, France

    Kappler Jean-Paul

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Ansermet, JP. (2010). Spintronics: Conceptual Building Blocks. In: Beaurepaire, E., Bulou, H., Scheurer, F., Jean-Paul, K. (eds) Magnetism and Synchrotron Radiation. Springer Proceedings in Physics, vol 133. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04498-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04498-4_2

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-04498-4

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