2024/09/30
Keio University
Assistant Professor Hana Takato (then a researcher at KiPAS) of the Keio Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences (KiPAS) and the Graduate School of Science and Technology at Keio University, along with Associate Professor Kazuya Ando, a principal investigator at KiPAS and a member of the university's Faculty of Science and Technology, have successfully controlled the conduction of orbital currents.
Electrons possess three properties: charge, spin, and orbit. The field of electronics has evolved based on the control of electric current, which is the flow of charge. Furthermore, it has become possible to generate a flow of spin, known as a spin current, and attempts to control this have contributed to the development of spintronics research, the next generation of electronic technology. In recent years, the importance of orbital currents, which correspond to electric and spin currents, has become clear, and significant progress has been made in methods for generating orbital currents through recent research at KiPAS and elsewhere. However, a method for controlling the generated orbital currents was previously unknown.
This study marks the first successful control of an orbital current by manipulating the state of atomic arrangement in a material. This research not only leads to a fundamental understanding of orbital currents but also provides crucial insights for designing electronic devices that utilize them, contributing to the development of a new electronic technology that follows electronics and spintronics.
The results of this research were published in the online edition of the British scientific journal "Nature Physics" at 10:00 a.m. (UK time) on September 27.
For the full press release, please see below.