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HOME PAGE YOU ARE IN THE TURNS OF PHRASE SECTION SECTION INDEX PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE OTHER SECTIONS ARTICLES QUESTIONS & ANSWERS REVIEWS TOPICAL WORDS WEIRD WORDS FINDING THINGS INDEX (A–F) INDEX (G–O) INDEX (P–Z) INDEX (COMPLETE) SEARCH THE SITE SURPRISE ME! SUPPORT PAGES ABOUT THE AUTHOR CONTACT THE AUTHOR MAILING LIST OTHER WORDS SITES PRONUNCIATION GUIDE | SPINTRONICS This is a new technological discipline which aims to exploit the subtle and mind-bendingly esoteric quantum properties of the electron to develop a new generation of electronic devices. Its potential is sufficiently great that the US Department of Defense has invested more than $50 million dollars in spintronics research in the past year. The word is a blend of electronics with spin, the quantum property it exploits. Like so many words applied to the subatomic realm, spin has to be taken figuratively as a convenient label for a property that has no equivalent in gross matter. Every electron exists in one of two states, spin-up or spin-down; it is possible to make a sandwich of gold atoms between two thin films of magnetic material that will act as a filter or valve that only permits electrons in one of the two states to pass. The filter can be changed from one state to the other using a brief and tiny burst of current. From this simple device it’s hoped to make incredibly tiny chips that will act as super-fast memories whose contents will survive loss of power. The adjective is spintronic. World Wide Words is copyright © Michael Quinion, 1996–2003. All rights reserved. Contact the author for reproduction requests. Comments and feedback are always welcome. Page created 7 March 1998.