The first direct observation of giant spin-splitting has been made by an international team of researchers, which made the discovery while trying to develop spintronic technologies. The discovery came as a surprise because the material being studied – tungsten diselenide (WSe2) – has a crystal symmetry that, conventionally, would not allow for such spin-splitting to occur.

Spintronics is an emerging technology that aims at harnessing the electron's intrinsic spin and magnetic moment to develop new kinds of solid-state devices that are much faster, smaller and more energy efficient than current electronics.

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