Electron spin...

[beansbaxter]

What is this business I've been reading about controlling the spin of the electron? And how/to what do they intend to apply this if it works?

 

[f95toli]

You can control spin by applying an external magnetic field.
In fact materials that are ferromagnetic are so because all the spins (each spin being the total spin of an ion) are poinging in the same direction.
So we have been controlling spins for a long time.

 

[beansbaxter]

Oh, by the way, I "think" that I heard about the electron spin thing related to some reading about white or blue LED's, or, blue-violet lasers. That's all I can remember at the moment.

 

[Fencer128]

Originally posted by: beansbaxter
Oh, by the way, I "think" that I heard about the electron spin thing related to some reading about white or blue LED's, or, blue-violet lasers. That's all I can remember at the moment.

Hi

It's possible to create populations of carriers (ie electrons) in certain semiconductors by exciting them with particular polarisations of laser light. Is this maybe what you are referring to?

These organised spin states quickly randomise again on a timescale much less than that taken for electrons to relax from one energy level to the ground state. This means the effect can potentially be used for very fast switching - faster than that employed by electronic means alone.

Cheers,

Andy