Researchers at Ohio State University have demonstrated data storage and retrieval on a plastic spintronic device, using the spin of electrons to read, write, and manipulate data.

The researchers used an organic spintronic magnet, which they made from a polymer called vanadium tetracyanoethylene, to polarize the spins in an electrical current. This electrical current then passed through a traditional gallium arsenide semiconductor layer, and into an LED.

To confirm that the electrons were still polarized when they reached the LED, the researchers measured the spectrum and polarization of light shining from the LED. They found that the light was polarized, indicating the initial polarization of the incoming electrons.

Hybrid and organic devices offer the promise of computers that are lighter and more flexible, much as organic LEDs are now replacing inorganic LEDs in the production of flexible displays, the researchers said.

Ref.: E. Johnston-Halperin et al., Electrical Spin Injection from an Organic-Based Ferrimagnet in a Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Heterostructure, Physical Review Letters, April 13, 2011