Nanospintronics

Gina Miller writes "An article on the Physics News Update website Nanospintronics: A Single-Spin Transistor reports on the Institute for Microstructural Sciences that is responsible for the first prototype. "The spins of the electrons in the transistor are not random but depend on the number of electrons in the electron puddle, and on the applied magnetic field. Most importantly, by connecting the dot to spin-polarized reservoirs, one can insist that the electrons flowing in or out have their spins aligned up or down, and this criterion (is the electron's spin up or down?) can be used as a gate to allow a high or low current to flow through the dot." This new spin polarized phase technique could be used in quantum computing."