Switching spin

Spin-induced angular momentum switching.

When light is transmitted through optically inhomogeneous and anisotropic media the spatial distribution of light can be modified according to its input polarization state. A complete analysis of this process, based on the paraxial approximation, is presented, and we show how it can be exploited to produce a spin-controlled change in the orbital angular momentum of light beams propagating in pa...

Spin-transfer switching in spin valve nanopillars RESEARCH SEMESTER REPORT

Optical switching of nuclear spin–spin couplings in semiconductors

Two-qubit operation is an essential part of quantum computation. However, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance quantum computing has not been able to fully implement this functionality, because it requires a switchable inter-qubit coupling that controls the time evolutions of entanglements. Nuclear dipolar coupling is beneficial in that it is present whenever nuclear-spin qubits are close to ...

Swing switching of spin-torque valves

We propose a method for inducing magnetization reversal using an AC spin current polarized perpendicular to the equilibrium magnetization of the free magnetic layer. We show that the critical AC spin current is significantly smaller than the corresponding DC one. The effect is understood as a consequence of the underdamped nature of the spin-torque oscillators. It allows to use the kinetic iner...

Magnetization switching without charge or spin currents

We propose schemes of reversing the magnetization of a ferromagnet by electric fields alone, without charge or spin currents or external magnetic fields. The switching is triggered by picosecond manipulation of the atomic positions or subpicosecond distortion of the valence charge distribution, which through spin-orbit coupling modifies the magnetic anisotropy. We discuss how such time-even ani...