A Step toward Future Computing Based on Orbitronics (IMAGE)

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

A Step toward Future Computing Based on Orbitronics

Caption

These balloon-and-disc shapes represent an electron orbital -- a fuzzy electron cloud around an atom's nucleus -- in two different orientations. Scientists hope to someday use variations in the orientations of orbitals as the 0s and 1s needed to make computations and store information in computer memories, a system known as orbitronics. A SLAC study shows it's possible to separate these orbital orientations from electron spin patterns, a key step for independently controlling them in a class of materials that's the cornerstone of modern information technology.

Credit

Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

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