Handbook of Spintronics

Spintronics takes its name after the possibility to achieve an electronic kind of dynamics based solely on the intrinsic spin of electrons. Researchers expect that by understanding the behavior of the spin of the electron in the materials, can be learn something fundamentally new about Solid State Physics leading to a new generation of electronic devices based on the spin flux, in addition to the load flow electric. An advantage of the spin of the electron is that it can be easily manipulated by applied external magnetic fields, a property already used in the magnetic storage technology. Another advantage potentially significant, is the spin coherence or relaxation time, once created tends to stay that way for a long time, unlike the states of electrons in motion, which are easily destroyed by dispersion of defects, impurities or other currents. Indeed, the holy grail of spintronics is a perfect multifunctional integration of electronics, opto-electronics and magneto-electronics in a single device that can perform a lot more than is possible in the current microelectronic devices. The purpose of this work, is to present a description on the developments in Spintronics.The book starts with an Introduction of spintronics, especially from an historical view. Section 1 is a brief journey to the physics behind spintronics.Section 2 takes the reader to very principles of how spin is a valuable an good property to manipulate and use.Section 3 is devoted to some applications, physical properties and advantages.