Electrons have a property, called spin, which behaves like a small magnet. Electrons are thought to be spinning on their own axis, generating a magnetic field, just like an electric current passing through a coil generates a magnetic field. Until now, this electron spin has not been widely used in electronics. The goal of the research we are conducting is to realize electronic devices with new functions that have never been seen before by using this property. We expect this kind of research to allow us to realize more advanced information processing by, for example, suppressing the power consumption for information processing to nearly zero.

The artificial formation of high-quality single-crystal interfaces is crucial for the manufacture of the spin-based devices. The right figure is a molecular beam epitaxy system (MBE system) that is used for producing high-quality crystal thin films. This device allows us to create an ultrahigh vacuum up to 10^(-8) Pa. An atom heat-vaporized inside an MBE system can travel straight for several hundred kilometers without colliding with other atoms, making it possible to produce high-purity crystal films with very low levels of contamination. We can precisely control the electron spin orientations during electron transport in these films. We consider various combinations of atoms and produce single-crystal films every day to produce new functionalities.

One of our targets is the realization of spin transistors, which have both amplification capability and non-volatile memory function, which are expected to suppress the power consumption for information processing to nearly zero. We aim for this goal utilizing our technology to make high-quality single-crystal heterostructures.