Terahertz Wave Induced Spin Switching Technology (TWISST)

Started

Not Energy Related
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electricity transmission and distribution)

Basic and strategic applied research

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Physics)
PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Computer Science and Informatics)

Not Cross-cutting

Darren Graham
University of Manchester

Standard

EPSRC

01 June 2025

01 June 2028

36 months

£1,522,965

Unknown

North West

NC : ICT

Darren Graham, University of Manchester

Morgan Hibberd, University of Manchester
Steven Jamison, Lancaster University
Rostislav Mikhaylovskiy, Lancaster University
Paul Nutter, University of Manchester
Thomas Thomson, University of Manchester

This project brings together leading researchers from the UK and Germany to develop the scientific understanding needed to create a new generation of memory-devices characterised by very low energy consumption and switching times of one trillionth of a second. This requires the development of new devices capable of operating at corresponding frequencies called terahertz (THz - 1012 Hz) i.e. thousand times faster than that used in current data communication and processing standards. Such very short pulses of electro-magnetic radiation are among the shortest stimuli available in science and technology and are made from light particles, photons, whose energies naturally match those of elementary quantum magnets, called “spins”. The THz excitation of the spins (THz spintronics) will be strong enough to induce switching of the spin orientation, representing the elementary act of writing a bit of information. As THz photons exactly match the excitation energy, this represents the optimally energy efficient switching regime, avoiding the localised heating that plagues current energy assisted data storage schemes. The key idea behind the project is to develop THz spintronics both as broadband THz emitters and as a technology capable of switching the magnetic state of a data storage element. The emitters will generate very strong pulses of THz radiation using emitters based on ultrathin layers of magnetic and non-magnetic metals. By exciting this system with an extremely short laser pulse (50 quadrillionths of a second), a transport of spins can be generated in the magnetic layer, which travels into the non-magnetic layer, resulting in the generation of an ultrashort burst of the electric current and the emission of a THz pulse. We will focus and concentrate this THz emission with an antenna onto another magnet, to switch a nanoscale magnetic bit. Our studies are expected to deliver unprecedented insights into the physics of light-magnetism interactions on extreme time and length scales while laying the fundament for the data storage technology of the future. The project is expected to cement an enduring collaboration with the bilateral partners providing a framework for new directions in the field of THz technology and ultrafast magnetism and spintronics

29/10/25