PHYSICS:
Taking the Hall Effect for a Spin
Junichiro Inoue and Hideo Ohno
The Hall effect is a phenomenon where a current is produced in the direction perpendicular to an electric field applied to a solid. Discovered in its original form 126 years ago, new variants of the Hall effect in the absence of a magnetic field that involve the spin rather than the charge of electrons continue to be discovered. In their Perspective, Inoue and Ohno discuss recent work in which two groups have recently reported the existence of spin Hall currents. The exact mechanisms and behavior are still uncertain, but the results may have practical significance to spintronics, a new generation of electronic devices based on manipulation and control of electron spin.
J. Inoue is in the Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan. H. Ohno is at the Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan, and the ERATO Semiconductor Spintronics Project, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kitame-machi 1-18, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-0023, Japan. E-mail: ohno{at}riec.tohoku.ac.jp
