Interplay between spin and charge effects in nanostructured systems

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Spin and charge effects in condensed matter physics have long been studied separately. In traditional ferromagnetic materials such as Ni, Fe, and Co, spin physics defines magnetic properties, and results achieved have driven the information storage industry. For semiconductor materials such as Si and GaAs on the other hand, the research focus has been on their charge properties, and results have been applied mainly by the electronics industry. For several decades, these two major fields of condensed matter physics have had little overlap, and researchers from the two sides have seldom met and communicated.  My long-term research goal is to contribute significantly to the increasing worldwide interest of merging the two fields, and investigating the interplay between spin and charge effects in various material systems. The focus of this research program is to apply innovative experimental tools to investigate spin transport and spin dynamics in nanostructures. Based on expertise I have established over the last few years, I have set the following challenging objectives, in order to combine spintronics applications with nanotechnology:     In semiconductors, spin-orbit coupling bridges spin and charge effects at the fundamental bandstructure level. My goal is to investigate its influence on coherent charge transport in nanostructures, via the weak antilocalization effect. Our latest results have brought us considerable insight into this topic.     In ferromagnet metals, my focus is on the current-induced spin dynamics in nanomagnets, an effect that may transform the magnetic storage technology. I will use microwave photoconductivity spectroscopy, a novel technique which we have recently established, to study magnetodynamics.     A crucial step for spintronics applications is to merge semiconductor with magnetism. One approach is to make hybrid devices, the other is to use novel ferromagnetic semiconductor materials. My goal is to investigate spin dynamics in both systems, in order to pave the way for creating functional spintronics devices.