Power Spintronics: Producing AC Voltages by Manipulating Magnetic Fields

Scientists are putting a new spin on their approach to generating electrical current by harnessing a recently identified electromotive force known as spinmotive force, which is related to the field of spintronics that addresses such challenges as improving data storage in computers. Now, a novel application of spintronics is the highly efficient and direct conversion of magnetic energy to electric voltage by using magnetic nanostructures and manipulating the dynamics of magnetization.

According to a report published in the American Institute of Physics' (AIP) journal Applied Physics Letters, this conversion could be the foundation for future development of spin-based power electronics, a field the authors call "power spintronics." Their newly published results of an experimental model suggest that a power spintronics-based device may one day be a promising approach to obtaining alternating current (AC) voltages from direct current (DC) magnetic fields.