The birth of spinplasmonics

Roland Piquepaille writes: "You might have heard of spintronics, a technology that uses the magnetic quantum properties of the spin of electrons, or plasmonics, another one which 'involves the transfer of light electromagnetic energy into a tiny volume, thus creating intense electric fields.' Now, researchers at the University of Alberta (U of A) have merged these two nascent research fields to create a new nanotechnology field called spinplasmonics. [Note: And when I say 'new,' it really is: Google returned only 25 pages containing the word spinplasmonics today.] According to the researchers, this new technology, which was already used to control the quantum state of an electron's spin to switch a beam of terahertz light, could one day be the basis for 'computers with extraordinary capacities.' But read more for additional references and a picture showing how spinnning plasmonics work."