Editing Spintronics (section)

===Applications===
[[Disk read-and-write head|Read heads]] of magnetic [[hard drive]]s are based on the GMR or TMR effect.

Motorola developed a first-generation 256&nbsp;[[kilobit|kb]] [[magnetoresistive random-access memory]] (MRAM) based on a single magnetic tunnel junction and a single transistor that has a read/write cycle of under 50 nanoseconds.<ref>[http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/materials-science/alternative-energy-materials/magnetic-materials/tutorial/spintronics.html Spintronics]. Sigma-Aldrich. Retrieved on 21 October 2013.</ref> [[Everspin]] has since developed a 4&nbsp;[[Megabit|Mb]] version.<ref>[http://www.everspin.com/technology.php Everspin] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630001137/http://www.everspin.com/technology.php |date=30 June 2012 }}. Everspin. Retrieved on 21 October 2013.</ref> Two second-generation MRAM techniques are in development: [[thermal-assisted switching]] (TAS)<ref>Hoberman, Barry. [http://www.crocustechnology.com/pdf/BH%20GSA%20Article.pdf The Emergence of Practical MRAM] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021115241/http://www.crocustechnology.com/pdf/BH%20GSA%20Article.pdf |date=21 October 2013 }}. crocustechnology.com</ref> and [[spin-transfer torque]] (STT).<ref>LaPedus, Mark (18 June 2009) [http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1171188 Tower invests in Crocus, tips MRAM foundry deal]. eetimes.com</ref>

Another design, [[racetrack memory]], a novel memory architecture proposed by [[Stuart Parkin|Dr. Stuart S. P. Parkin]], encodes information in the direction of magnetization between domain walls of a ferromagnetic wire.

In 2012, persistent spin helices of synchronized electrons were made to persist for more than a nanosecond, a 30-fold increase over earlier efforts, and longer than the duration of a modern processor clock cycle.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Walser, M.|author2=Reichl, C.|author3=Wegscheider, W.|author4=Salis, G.|name-list-style=amp |title=Direct mapping of the formation of a persistent spin helix|journal=Nature Physics|doi=10.1038/nphys2383|bibcode = 2012NatPh...8..757W|date=2012|volume=8|issue=10|pages=757 |arxiv=1209.4857|s2cid=119209785}}</ref>