Gaining energy from waste heat
Published on 8. August 2011, 15:52 h
Online edition of the journal Nature Materials publishes research findings from a physics consortium
A consortium of scientists from the universities in Bielefeld, Gießen, and Göttingen has obtained their first findings in the pioneering research field of 'spincaloritronics'. These are now being published in the online edition of the specialist journal Nature Materials. Together with their colleagues, the Bielefeld scientists Professor Dr. Günter Reiss and Dr. Andy Thomas are working on thermoelectric components that can be used to control, for example, waste heat usefully.
Energy issues and the development of new kinds of electronic components are two major fields in current research. Increasing energy efficiency, which will finally reduce energy consumption, is becoming more important all the time. Using waste heat to, for example, generate electricity is often an obvious solution. As a result, this field is called thermoelectrics and is a part of thermodynamics (calorics).
Conventional electronic components use the electron's charge to carry information. New kinds of electronic components also use the spin of the electron – which can be seen as corresponding to a fast spinning on its own axis. This makes additional functions available, and the field is generally called spin electronics. Therefore, scientists have assigned the difficult title of 'spincaloritronics' to the interface between this research field and thermodynamics.
Magnets are often the materials of choice in spin electronics, because they make the spin of the electron accessible in a special way. If two magnetic layers are separated by an ultra-thin non-conductive layer, it is possible to build a thermoelectric component. However, because every magnet also has a north and a south pole, it can be aligned. Orienting the two magnets toward each other can create an electrical potential that is triggered by the differences in warmth between the two magnets.
'When embedded in electronic circuits, this can guide, for example, the waste heat of a processor in new directions" says Dr. Andy Thomas, head of a NRW junior research group.
The research is being carried out together with the research team of Professor Dr. Günter Reiss at Bielefeld University. The results will be published on Sunday 24 July 2011 in the online edition of the journal Nature Materials that provides a forum for major contributions from physics and the material sciences. Further research by the consortium of research teams from Göttingen, Gießen, and Bielefeld Universities will continue within the new priority programme 'SpinCat' that is receiving about one million Euros of research funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Andy Thomas (born 1975) is teaching and doing research at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics. After spending two years doing research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge (USA), he returned to Bielefeld in 2005 where he gained his post-doctoral habilitation in 2009 and now heads a NRW junior research group.
Original publication:
M. Walter et al., "Seebeck effect in magnetic tunnel junctions", Nature Materials, online published on 24 July 2011, DOI: 10.1038/NMAT3076
For further information in the Internet, go to:
www.spinelectronics.de
Contact:
Andy Thomas, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Physics
Telephone: 0521 106-2540,
E-Mail: andy.thomas@uni-bielefeld.de
A consortium of scientists from the universities in Bielefeld, Gießen, and Göttingen has obtained their first findings in the pioneering research field of 'spincaloritronics'. These are now being published in the online edition of the specialist journal Nature Materials. Together with their colleagues, the Bielefeld scientists Professor Dr. Günter Reiss and Dr. Andy Thomas are working on thermoelectric components that can be used to control, for example, waste heat usefully.
Dr. Andy Thomas, Prof. Dr. Markus Münzenberger (university Göttingen) und Prof. Dr. Günter Reiss (from left to right)
Conventional electronic components use the electron's charge to carry information. New kinds of electronic components also use the spin of the electron – which can be seen as corresponding to a fast spinning on its own axis. This makes additional functions available, and the field is generally called spin electronics. Therefore, scientists have assigned the difficult title of 'spincaloritronics' to the interface between this research field and thermodynamics.
Magnets are often the materials of choice in spin electronics, because they make the spin of the electron accessible in a special way. If two magnetic layers are separated by an ultra-thin non-conductive layer, it is possible to build a thermoelectric component. However, because every magnet also has a north and a south pole, it can be aligned. Orienting the two magnets toward each other can create an electrical potential that is triggered by the differences in warmth between the two magnets.
'When embedded in electronic circuits, this can guide, for example, the waste heat of a processor in new directions" says Dr. Andy Thomas, head of a NRW junior research group.
The research is being carried out together with the research team of Professor Dr. Günter Reiss at Bielefeld University. The results will be published on Sunday 24 July 2011 in the online edition of the journal Nature Materials that provides a forum for major contributions from physics and the material sciences. Further research by the consortium of research teams from Göttingen, Gießen, and Bielefeld Universities will continue within the new priority programme 'SpinCat' that is receiving about one million Euros of research funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Andy Thomas (born 1975) is teaching and doing research at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics. After spending two years doing research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge (USA), he returned to Bielefeld in 2005 where he gained his post-doctoral habilitation in 2009 and now heads a NRW junior research group.
Original publication:
M. Walter et al., "Seebeck effect in magnetic tunnel junctions", Nature Materials, online published on 24 July 2011, DOI: 10.1038/NMAT3076
For further information in the Internet, go to:
www.spinelectronics.de
Contact:
Andy Thomas, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Physics
Telephone: 0521 106-2540,
E-Mail: andy.thomas@uni-bielefeld.de
Posted by MBorchert
in General
Kommentare:
Contact
Universität Bielefeld
Medien & News
Postfach 10 01 31
33501 Bielefeld
E-Mail:
medien@uni-bielefeld.de