When a spin-polarized current passes from a ferromagnet into a non-magnetic material, the spins of the itinerant electrons are ‘flipped’ at the interface between the two materials, producing a mechanical torque. A nanoscale torsion oscillator has now measured this torque in a metallic nanowire in which one half is ferromagnetic and the other non-magnetic. The unprecedented torque sensitivity offered by this device could have applications in spintronics and fundamental physics, chemistry and biology.
- Guiti Zolfagharkhani
- Alexei Gaidarzhy
- Pritiraj Mohanty
