MRSEC: Materials Research Science and Engineering Center

约翰霍普金斯大学的材料研究科学与工程中心（MRSEC）专注于最重要的新研究领域之一：磁电子科学与技术。传统的微电子设备，如微芯片，利用电流——金属和半导体中电子携带的电荷的运动——来控制和操纵信息。然而，除了电荷之外，电子还具有一种被称为“自旋”的属性，这使它们成为微小的磁铁，正是这些自旋在铁等材料中的集体排列导致了磁性现象。磁性材料的自旋排列是硬盘和磁带信息存储的基础。在磁电子学中，电子自旋的动态控制使人们能够以新的方式传输和操纵信息，而第一代“自旋电子”设备——计算机硬盘驱动器的读磁头，使近年来信息存储容量的巨大增加成为可能，并导致了基于计算机的技术的爆炸式增长。这一领域的进步需要对材料特性和器件结构进行纳米级控制。该MRSEC汇集了具有广泛和互补专业知识的科学家和工程师，在磁性电子纳米结构材料的几个极具前景的领域进行研究：(i)有潜力用于动态存储器件的磁隧道结，（ii）用于磁电子器件的新型环结构科学，（iii）有潜力将磁电子扩展到快速发展的低成本、可印刷电子领域的有机半导体器件，以及（iv）将为自旋信息传输提供新方法的纳米结构。MRSEC的研究活动将对新一代磁电子器件产生深远的影响。该中心将促进与相关行业的互动，以利用预期的科学进步，充分发挥其技术潜力。作为其研究计划的一个组成部分，该中心将为博士后、研究生和本科生提供跨学科的研究培训和教育，为他们在工业、学术界和国家实验室的科学和工程前沿的职业生涯做好准备。中心的教育推广项目将鼓励年轻人从事科学事业，为教师提供继续教育和新课程材料，并向公众介绍材料研究的兴奋和重要性。在所有这些项目中，MRSEC将促进妇女和代表性不足群体成员的参与。

This Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Johns Hopkins University is focused on one of the most important new research areas: science and technology of magnetoelectronics. Conventional microelectronic devices, such as microchips, use electric currents - the motion of electric charge as carried by electrons in metals and semiconductors - to control and manipulate information. However, in addition to charge, electrons possess an attribute known as "spin," which makes them tiny magnets, and it is the collective alignment of these spins in materials such as iron that leads to the phenomenon of magnetism. Spin alignment in magnetic materials is the basis of information storage on hard disks and magnetic tapes. In magnetoelectronics, dynamic control of electron spin allows one to transmit and manipulate information in new ways, and the first generation of "spintronic" devices--read heads for computer hard drives, have made possible the huge increase in information storage capacity in recent years and resulted in the explosive growth in computer-based technologies. Advances in this field require nanoscale control of materials properties and device architectures. This MRSEC brings together scientists and engineers with wide-ranging and complementary expertise to carry out research in several extremely promising areas of nanostructured materials for magnetoelectronics: (i) magnetic tunnel junctions that have potential for use in dynamic memory devices, (ii) the science of novel ring architectures for magnetoelectronic devices, (iii) organic semiconductor devices that have potential to expand magnetoelectronics into the rapidly developing field of low-cost, printable electronics, and (iv) nanostructures that will enable new approaches for the transport of spin information.The MRSEC's research activities will have far-reaching impact on a new generation of magnetoelectronics devices. The Center will foster interactions with relevant industries to leverage the expected scientific advances to realize fully their technological potential. As an integral part of its research program, the Center will provide interdisciplinary research training and education for post-docs, graduate students, and undergraduates, preparing them for careers at the cutting edge of science and engineering in industry, academia, and national laboratories. The Center's education outreach programs will encourage young people to pursue scientific careers, provide continuing education and new curricular material for teachers, and introduce the public to the excitement and importance of materials research. In all of these programs, the MRSEC will promote the participation of women and members of underrepresented groups.