282

Magnetic materials
this effect turns out to be independent of the orientation of the domain wall, whether it is initially 'up' or 'down'. Why is this called a racetrack memory? It got its name fiom a modification of the basic idea by leaving the means of writing and reading the information on the substrate but making the wire vertical as shown in Fig. I1.28(b). This could increase the storage density further by a large factor by relying on the third dimension. It is also obvious from Fig. I i.28(b) why 'racetrack memory' is the appropriate name. There is one more aspect, and a very important aspect, of the art of spin manipulation which we have not mentioned so far. In all the phenomena described above, the elecfrons moved liom one material into another one, having one or the other type of spin. Thus in all cases there was a crurent
attributable to the charge of the electron. However, that is not necessarily so. In principle it is possible to have a current due to spins only, provided spin--orbit interaction* is negligible. In the presence ofspin orbit interaction, charge and spin are coupled. Their behaviour is governed by equations in which gradients ofspin dcnsiw affect the charge distribution and vice versa. Why is it good that spin currents can exist independently or in combination rvith charge currents? It is because charge currents cause power dissipation, which becomes more and more of a problem as dimensions decrease. Thus any rneans which can offer alternatives to charge currents are welcome, and spins provide an alternative u''hich might do the job in the not too distant future.

The coupling betwee n an elemcnt's spin and orbital magnelism.

11

.9.3

lsolators

Mr nert erample is a dericc uhich lets an clcctromagnetic wave pass in one direction but heavilv attenuates it in the revcrse direction. It is called an isolator. The version I am going to discuss works at tnicrowave frequencies and uses a ferrite rod. which is placed into a rvaveguide and biased by the magnetic field of a permanent rragnet (Fig. i i.29). The input circularly polarized wave may propagate unattenuated. but the reflected circularly polarized wave (which is now rotating in the opposite direction) is absorbed. Thus, the operation ofthe device is based on the different attenuations ofcircularly polarized waves that rotate in oppositc directions.

Permanent magnel or soienoid

ncident

Reflected

circularlv
polarized wave

circularly
polarized
WAVC

Fig.1'1.29
Schematic representation an isolator.

of

Ferrite rod

Circular
waveguide