Physicists at UC Riverside have made an accidental discovery in the lab that has potential to change how information in computers can be transported or stored.

The researchers were experimenting with ferromagnet/semiconductor (FM/SC) structures, which are key building blocks for semiconductor spintronic devices (microelectronic devices that perform logic operations using the spin of electrons). The FM/SC structure is sandwich-like in appearance, with the ferromagnet and semiconductor serving as microscopically thin slices, between which lies a thinner still insulator made of a few atomic layers of magnesium oxide.

The researchers found that by simply altering the thickness of the magnesium oxide interface, they were able to control which kinds of electrons, identified by spin, traveled from the semiconductor through the interface to the ferromagnet.

The discovery could help in the development of spin-based semiconductor technology such as ultrahigh-speed computers and instant-on computers.