키랄 스핀트로닉스가 컴퓨팅을 혁신할 수 있는 방법

스핀트로닉스가 컴퓨팅을 혁신할 수 있는 방법

Progressively, the world of hardware computing is starting to look beyond silicon chips, or even classical forms of binary computing altogether.

이는 현재 컴퓨터와 데이터 센터에 사용되는 일반적인 칩과 메모리를 제조하는 것이 점점 더 어려워지고 있으며, 최신 세대의 트랜지스터는 몇 나노미터에 불과하기 때문입니다.

또 다른 요인은 특히 AI 시스템에 대한 컴퓨팅 파워 수요가 계속 증가함에 따라 에너지 소비가 문제가 되고 있다는 점입니다.

양자 컴퓨팅과 포토닉스가 컴퓨팅 수요를 줄이거나 더 빠르고 에너지 효율적으로 만들기 위한 가장 두드러진 옵션으로 제시되고 있습니다.

또 하나는 전자 흐름(전류) 대신 전자의 스핀이라는 양자 특성을 활용하는 스핀트로닉스입니다.

스핀트로닉스의 장점 및 잠재적 응용 분야

Electronic components, such as transistors, are traditionally built from silicon and rely on semiconductors. The 0 and 1 signals in binary indicate the passing or blocking of an electric current.

컴퓨팅을 수행하는 또 다른 방법은 전류가 아니라 전자의 스핀(기본적인 양자 특성)을 이용하는 스핀트로닉스 장치를 사용하는 것입니다.

출처: Insight IAS

데이터는 전자의 스핀 각운동량(전자가 위(up) 또는 아래(down) 방향을 갖는 것으로 상상할 수 있음)과 전자 궤도 각운동량(전자가 원자핵 주위를 어떻게 움직이는지를 설명) 두 가지 방식으로 인코딩될 수 있습니다.

이것은 0과 1만을 사용하는 것보다 더 많은 정보를 담을 수 있기 때문에, 스핀은 전통적인 전자 장치보다 원자당 더 많은 데이터를 저장할 수 있습니다.

스핀트로닉스는 고전 전자 시스템에 비해 몇 가지 추가적인 장점을 가지고 있습니다, 특히:

• 데이터 전송이 더 빠릅니다. 스핀은 훨씬 빠르게 변경될 수 있기 때문입니다.
• 전력 소비가 적습니다. 스핀을 변경하는 데 전류를 유지하기 위해 전자를 흐르게 하는 것보다 적은 전력이 필요합니다.
• 복잡한 반도체 재료 대신 단순 금속을 사용할 수 있습니다.
• 스핀은 반도체 상태보다 휘발성이 낮아 데이터 저장이 더 안정적입니다.

스와이프하여 스크롤 →

Spintronics has been commercialized in hard drive read heads since the 1990s, significantly boosting storage density over the past decades.

“Spin is a quantum mechanical property of electrons, which is like a tiny magnet carried by the electrons, pointing up or down.

우리는 전자의 스핀을 활용하여 이른바 스핀트로닉스 장치에서 정보를 전송하고 처리할 수 있습니다.

Talieh Ghiasi – Postdoc Researcher at Delft University of Technology

Much recent progress has been made in spintronics, for example, that spin loss can be converted back into magnetisation, making spintronics electronics even more energy-efficient, or that spintronics & graphene could power next-gen quantum circuits.

그리고 과학자들은 아직도 스핀트로닉스 장치를 개선할 새로운 방법을 발견하고 있습니다. 예를 들어, 서울대학교(대한민국), 고려대학교, 한국과학기술원, 그리고 미국 Feinberg School of Medicine 연구진이 전자 스핀을 제어할 수 있는 자기 나노헬리스를 만들었으며, 이는 이른바 “키랄 스핀트로닉스”라는 완전히 새로운 분야를 창출할 수 있습니다.

They published their results in the prestigious scientific magazine Science¹, under the title “Spin-selective transport through chiral ferromagnetic nanohelices”.

키랄 스핀트로닉스

스핀트로닉스에서의 키랄리티란 무엇인가?

In nature, symmetry is a fundamental feature of many things, including the components of DNA and light itself. It is possible that two molecules almost identical to each other differ not in their composition or shape, but in their orientation, a concept called “chirality”.

키랄리티는 가장 간단히 말해 왼손과 오른손이 모양, 구조, 기능은 동일하지만 방향만 다른 현상으로 설명할 수 있습니다.

키랄리티는 생물학에서 근본적인 역할을 하며, 자연 선택은 오직 “우핸드(right‑handed)” DNA 분자, 당, 그리고 아미노산(단백질의 기본 구성 요소)만을 선택해 왔습니다.

It is, however, rare in inorganic materials, which tend to either be disorganized or crystals without chirality.

스핀트로닉스를 위한 금속의 키랄리티 획득 방법

The scientists managed to create both left- and right-handed chiral magnetic nanohelices by electrochemically controlling the metal crystallization process. An alloy of cobalt-iron was chosen for its ferromagnetic properties.

A key innovation in this process is using trace amounts of chiral organic molecules, such as cinchonine or cinchonidine, which guided the formation of the helices.

“In metals and inorganic materials, controlling chirality during synthesis is extremely difficult, especially at the nanoscale.

The fact that we could program the direction of inorganic helices simply by adding chiral molecules is a breakthrough in materials chemistry.”

Pr. Ki Tae Nam – Professor at Seoul National University

To demonstrate the chirality of these nanohelices, they measured electromagnetic fields (EMF) generated by the helices under rotating magnetic fields.

This creates an easy way to test if the material was produced properly, as the left- and right-handed helices produced opposite EMF signals, allowing for quantitative verification of chirality, not requiring the magnetic material to strongly interact with light, the usual way to check for chirality.

More importantly, they discovered that these chiral magnetic metals can also guide the spin accordingly: they preferentially allow one direction of spin to pass, while the opposite spin cannot.

“Chirality is well-understood in organic molecules, where the handedness of a structure often determines its biological or chemical function,”

Pr. Ki Tae Nam – Professor at Seoul National University

키랄 스핀트로닉스의 잠재적 응용 분야

Through the material’s inherent magnetization (spin alignment), long-distance spin transport at room temperature became possible.

This effect proved constant, regardless of the angle between the chiral axis and the spin injection direction. As it was not observed in non-magnetic nanohelices of the same scale, it seems to be directly linked to the chiral magnetic helices.

This would make the first-ever discovered asymmetric spin transport in a relatively macro-scaled material.

The team also demonstrated a solid-state device that showed chirality-dependent conduction signals, paving the way for practical spintronic applications.

“These nanohelices achieve spin polarization exceeding ~80% — just by their geometry and magnetism,”

This is a rare combination of structural chirality and intrinsic ferromagnetism, enabling spin filtering at room temperature without complex magnetic circuitry or cryogenics, and provides a new way to engineer electron behavior using structural design.”

Pr. Young Keun Kim – Professor at Korea University

Another advantage of this new technology is that the manufacturing process is relatively simple and cheap, using no rare materials or complex technologies.

“We believe this system could become a platform for chiral spintronics and the architecture of chiral magnetic nanostructures.

This work represents a powerful convergence of geometry, magnetism, and spin transport, built from scalable, inorganic materials.”

Pr. Young Keun Kim – Professor at Korea University

Much more work still needs to be done to fully explore the potential of this new idea and materials. For example, the number of strands (double, multiple helices) can be modified at will, and might yield different characteristics yet to be discovered.

The ability to control the handedness (left/right) and even the number of strands (double, multiple helices) using this versatile electrochemical method is expected to contribute significantly to new application areas.

Pr. Young Keun Kim – Professor at Korea University

Between the ease of production and the possibility of long-distance spin transfer, this could be very useful for the production of fully spin-based computers and networks, with economic advantages from lower energy consumption and stable data storage.

스핀트로닉스 혁신 기업에 투자하기

1. Everspin Technologies

Everspin is a branch of Freescale (now known as NXP, stock ticker NXPI) dedicated to developing MRAM memory systems, the most common form of spintronics that is commercially viable today. It got spun out and went public in 2016.

Everspin은 현재 상용화된 스핀트로닉스 형태인 MRAM(자기저항식 랜덤 액세스 메모리) 시스템 개발에 전념하는 Freescale(NXP, 주식 코드 NXPI)의 분사 기업이며, 2016년에 독립 상장했습니다.

Everspin is considered the leader of MRAM technology (Magnetoresistive Random-Access Memory), inheriting Freescale’s experience of being the first to commercialize an MRAM chip in 2006.

Because MRAM is a memory that persists even in the absence of a current, it is increasingly used in sensitive use cases where critical data is too important to risk loss.

Driven by pervasive applications such as data analytics, cloud computing, both terrestrial and extraterrestrial, artificial intelligence (AI), and Edge AI, including Industrial IoT, the market for persistent memory is projected to grow at a CAGR of 27.5% between 2020 and 2030

Everspin

출처: Everspin

The company estimates the market will reach a $7.4B size by 2027. The company has had no debt and positive free cash flow since 2021.

Everspin MRAM 제품은 현재 작지만 성장 중인 틈새 시장을 차지하고 있으며, 항공우주, 위성, 데이터 기록 장치, 환자 모니터링 장치 등 신뢰성이 핵심인 시장에 서비스를 제공하고 있습니다.

출처: Everspin

The growth of chipsets, AI, and synaptic systems might also be a long-term boost for the company.

2. NVE Corporation

Another leader of spintronics, NVE has been working on this technology since its first patent in MRAM technology in 1995. It produces spintronic sensors and isolators, mostly used in measurement and sensor systems for cars, gears, medical devices, power supplies, and other industrial devices.

출처: NVE

This puts NVE in a somewhat different category than Everspin, with NVE more of an industrial company with a strong position in a niche market (magnetometer using spintronics), while Everspin is more of a memory/computing company working with and in competition with the likes of Intel (INTC ), Qualcomm (QCOM ), Toshiba, and Samsung, who are also developing their own MRAM product.

It can make the stock more (or less) attractive depending on investors’ profiles, with NVE’s stock more likely to appeal to more conservative investors seeking a dividend yield and safety.

연구 참고

^{1. Yoo Sang Jeon, et al. Spin-selective transport through chiral ferromagnetic nanohelices. Science. 4 Sep 2025. Vol 389, Issue 6764. pp. 1031-1036. DOI: 10.1126/science.adx5963}