UC Irvine

Manipulation of magnetic materials by the spin degree of freedom is leading way to a new generation of electronics known as spintronics. The nanodevices using these properties are becoming attractive candidates for technological applications, since they can potentially consume less power than their semiconductor counterparts. One particular device of interest is the spin toque oscillator, which is a nanoscale source of microwave power. In this study, a spin torque oscillator based on the insulating material Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) is produced to study the eects of pure spin currents. In the process of reaching this goal, several types of preliminary developments are chronicled and new measurement techniques developed. The process of fabricating the YIG based nanodevices is described as well.