By controlling the spin of a photon, researchers may have the answer of ultra-fast digital devices
Scientists from Purdue University have discovered 'spin-momentum locking'—a theory that connects the momentum of light waves with its spin. It has long been known that light waves in motion carry momentum as photons rotate within a magnetic field.
According to the new research, light waves spinning counterclockwise will only be able to move forward while light spinning clockwise can only move backward. Simple as this sounds, it could be key to using photons to actually store a binary '0' or '1'.
Zubin Jacob, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University said, “Researchers had noticed intriguing effects related to directional propagation of light coupled to its polarization.”
“What we have shown is that this is a unique effect related to the spin and momentum of light analogous in many ways to the case of spin-momentum locking which occurs for electrons. We showed there is a very simple rule that governs this spin and momentum locking. And it’s a universal property for all optical materials and nanostructures, which makes it potentially very useful for photonic devices. This universality is unique to light and does not occur for electrons,” Jacob added.
Light particles or photons are already being deployed in fibre optic cables for data transmission and communications. The new Spin-momentum locking can now help scientists develop Photonic technology that can now perform memory and logic operations for digital memory and computing applications.
This type of technology can also be used in conjunction with spintronics to harness the properties of electrons in tandem with photons for ultra-fast computers.
Purdue University
WHAT IS SPINTRONICS?
Spintronics, also known as spinelectronics or fluxtronics, is a technology that utilizes the intrinsic spin of an electron and its magnetic moment along with its fundamental electronic charge. Researchers believe that future gadgets will use the charge and spin of the electrons with photonic technology. Once scientists figure out how to integrate the spin properties of light to interface with spintronics, it will be possible to utilise both photons and electrons in devices
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