More energy-efficient appliances thanks to spin technology: Around 6.3 million euros in EU funding for two projects

Whether it's a smartphone, a smartwatch or a normal computer - electronic devices consume a lot of energy. New technologies made possible by spin research can help reduce consumption, for example by integrating them into common semiconductor and microchips. At TU Kaiserslautern (TUK), two new research projects funded by the European Union (EU) are addressing the issue. One is coordinated at the TUK and funded by the EU with 3.3 million euros, with 525,000 euros going to Kaiserslautern. The other project is being led in Belgium. The EU is providing around three million euros for this, of which 310,000 euros are earmarked for work at TUK.

To make electronic devices more energy-efficient, researchers are working on using spin waves and their quantum particles, the magnons. These can transport more information than electrons and at the same time consume significantly less energy. Spin waves, in turn, are the collective excitation of magnetic moments in a magnetic material. Spin is the intrinsic angular momentum of a quantum particle, for example an electron or neutron. It is the basis of all magnetic phenomena.

In the two EU-funded projects, the aim is to bring the findings of spin and magnonics research into application. In "Magnonics meets micro-electro-mechanical systems: a new paradigm for communication technology and radio-frequency signal processing" (M&MEMS), spin technology is to be made fit for existing electronic devices.

The team is focusing on the combination of magnonic systems with micromechanical systems, so-called MEMS chips. MEMS stands for "micro-electro-mechanical systems". "These are, for example, microscopic motors or acceleration sensors that are found in smartphones, among other things," says project coordinator junior professor Philipp Pirro, who researches in the field of magnetism at TUK. "Magnonic systems can be controlled via magnetic fields. These are usually generated by electromagnets and so far, however, you need electricity for this." His colleague Professor Dr Mathias Weiler, who researches applied spin phenomena at TUK, adds: "That makes the whole thing inefficient at the moment."

This is where these micromechanical systems now come into play. "In these we want to position small permanent magnets to create a magnetic field," Weiler continues. "Once this is done, no further energy is needed." The field strength of the magnet can be controlled by bringing it closer to the magnonic element or moving it correspondingly further away. Thus, the energy requirement or consumption would be very low. "This is particularly interesting for mobile devices," says Pirro as an example.

Eight partners from five EU countries are involved in the project, which is coordinated by the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TUK). Among them are universities such as the TU Munich and the Politecnico di Milano as well as leading technology companies in the field of high-frequency communication such as Nokia and Thales. At TUK, Pirro and Weiler are supported by Professor Dr Burkard Hillebrands, head of the magnetism working group.

The second funded project, Computation Systems Based on Hybrid Spin-wave-CMOS Integrated Architectures (SPIDER), is also about magnonic elements. "We want to build a system in which magnonics is connected to a standard computer and integrated into common semiconductor elements," Pirro explains. The research team has its sights on so-called complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors, or CMOS for short. They are found in all common computers. "If we manage to make magnonics compatible with the technologies and chips that already exist, we would have a lower barrier to entry to bring magnonics into application."

In addition to TUK and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, four other European partners are involved in the project. It is coordinated at the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC) in Leuven, Belgium.

The work on both projects will take place in the new LASE (Laboratory for Advanced Spin Engineering) research building on the TUK campus, where researchers from physics, chemistry and the engineering sciences will jointly get to the bottom of spin phenomena. Just recently, Professor Weiler and Junior Professor Pirro each received an ERC Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to also conduct research in the spin field. The ERC grants are among the most prestigious research grants worldwide.

The teams around the two physicists have laid the foundation for the projects with work in the state-funded Centre for Optics and Materials Sciences, OPTIMAS for short, and in the Collaborative Research Centre "Spin + X", which is funded by the German Research Foundation.

There will also be scientific positions within the framework of the new projects. Interested persons with appropriate qualifications are welcome to apply.

Answering questions:
Junior Professor Dr Philipp Pirro
Department of Magnetism / TU Kaiserslautern
Phone: 0631 205 4092
E-mail: ppirro(at)rhrk.uni-kl.de

Professor Dr. Mathias Weiler
Applied Spin Phenomena / TU Kaiserslautern
Phone: 0631 205 4099
E-mail: weiler(at)physik.uni-kl.de