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Science 10 December 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5703, pp. 1898 - 1899
DOI: 10.1126/science.1106931
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Perspectives

APPLIED PHYSICS:
Mesmerizing Semiconductors

Gerrit E. W. Bauer

The young field of spintronics aims to use the electron spin, rather than just its charge, in semiconductor microelectronic devices. In his Perspective, Bauer explains that spintronics faces a key hurdle: how to inject spins into semiconductors and maintain a spin current. He highlights the report by Kato et al., who provide evidence for the flow of magnetization in semiconductor films without invoking external magnetic fields or ferromagnets. The authors conclude that this spin Hall current is mainly caused by defects that scatter electrons with opposite spins to different edges of the samples via their spin-orbit interaction.

The author is at the Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands. E-mail: g.e.w.bauer{at}tnw.tudelft.nl

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)