Researchers from the University of Nebraska Lincoln and the University at Buffalo have crafted a new type of transistor, called a magneto-electric transistor, that generates less heat than a typical silicon-based transistor. Rather than depend on electric charge – as silicon-based transistors do – a magneto-electric transistor depends on spin, a magnetism-related property of electrons that points up or down and can be read, like an electric charge can, as a 1 or 0. The team underlaid graphene – an ultra-robust material just one atom thick – with chromium oxide. When applying voltage, the spins of the underlying chromium oxide pointed up or down, ultimately forcing the spin orientation of the graphene's electric current to veer left or right, respectively.
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