Spin current, spin conversion and power spintronics

スピン流, スピン変換及びパワー・スピントロニクス

前川 禎通

Maekawa, Sadamichi

A. Einstein and W.J. de Haas proved experimentally the equivalence of magnetic moment and mechanical rotation in 1915. In the same year, S.J. Bernett showed that the mechanical rotation can generate a magnetic field, i.e., the so-called Bernett field, even in a body with no electric charge. These phenomena are caused by the angular momentum conservation between electron spin and mechanical rotation, which has been derived in the general relativistic quantum mechanics. We introduce various angular momenta such as mechanical and nuclear ones in spintronics and propose novel spintronics phenomena. We show that spintronics is not just a new type of electronics but provides a variety of possibilities for energy conversion, which is called "power spintronics."